When Donald Trump descended upon the crowd in Trump Tower in 2015 to announce his presidential bid, it was a moment that changed the nature of politics in the United States. A populist businessman, beloved for his reality TV antics, initially continued what he was best known for — entertaining people. Then he started gaining momentum in the primary and became what every politician with an R after his name becomes, the latest incarnation of Hitler.
Beating Hillary Clinton in 2016 only galvanized this obvious truth, one that continues today at vanity publication The New Republic, multiple other outlets, and on the internet in general. That Trump already served four years as president without launching whatever his gold-adorned version of Kristallnacht would have been is ignored, as is the fact that neither Trump nor his allies or boosters are the ones going on about “Zionism” at present. Regardless, democracy is at stake, etc., etc.
It’s not just the media and the left (to repeat myself) who became increasingly agitated with Trump in his first run, though. Many on the right were also horrified by Trump’s rise. It wasn’t just that he hadn’t always seemed like much of a conservative. There were also the boorish insults, the affairs, the wives, and myriad other ways Trump was unlike any other recent candidate. As someone who was totally put off by Trump’s style, I know this personally, though my biggest fear was that he would do the normal Republican thing and move left upon being elected.
For those who didn’t become “conservative” commentators for lefty channels and publications, it became de rigueur to preface any support for Trump with a ritual malediction, a few words or a phrase indicating that while one was about to praise him, he still knew Trump was a bad man who might eventually become a Hitler or maybe just a Mussolini. Perhaps the impulse was simply to remind people that one was aware of Trump’s failings while reminding the readers or listeners that everyone knows he’s a bad man while also a useful tool.
He’s not a tool in the derogatory sense, but in the literal one. I am not offering a ritual malediction here. Rather, he’s an instrument for accomplishing certain goals, like getting some justices on the Supreme Court. This is what all politicians should be, but television combined with a weird culture in which we actually look up to these people rather than looking down on them has convinced too many that politicians are actually good people rather than a necessary evil. (Ronald Reagan had it right with his quip about the second-oldest profession, though members of the oldest may balk at the comparison these days because they at least still work for their, umm, constituents.)
You know what one does not do when getting out a socket wrench or mallet? One does not rhapsodize about the wrench’s failings or the ways the mallet offends his sensibilities. He simply uses it without compunction and moves on with his day, free from the compulsion to apologize.
Heading into November, Trump supporters and voters need to feel the same way about the man as they would about the wrench or the mallet. There is no need to denounce him before saying that he was right about the border. You can support the new RNC platform, which draws heavily from his instincts, without first announcing that you are personally offended by him and those instincts.
This isn’t to say it’s time to start launching verbal salvos at your friends and family, whether in person or in the punch-to-the-mouth free zone of social media. The malign influence of social media and its ability to make us all a little crazier — as it’s largely populated by crazy people — is part of how we got here. (Please like and share this piece, though.) It is, however, to say that supporting a politician, even one as unique as Donald J. Trump, shouldn’t be a mark of shame. Looking up to politicians and treating them as role models is the real mark of shame.
This will be difficult over the coming months, especially as the Democrats contend with the fact that their contender should be eating bowls of ice cream and watching “Matlock” reruns at home instead of pretending to run the government. Their vitriol against Trump and his supporters will only get more vicious, especially since Biden really seems to prefer eating bowls of ice cream and watching “Matlock” reruns from the comfort of Camp David or the White House rather than from the comfort of one of the homes his thankless public service afforded him.
Don’t let them put you on defense. We’re all sinners, but our candidate of choice isn’t on the list of questions St. Peter will be reading from should we arrive at the pearly gates, any more than will be our choice to buy a Ryobi drill rather than a DeWalt. You can explain your preference if you so desire, but just as you wouldn’t feel compelled to denounce the Ryobi while getting out your debit card, don’t feel compelled to denounce Trump before heading to the ballot box. He’s just a man and a politician, and not even that unique of one.