Trump Took the Bait, A Lawless Border & Florida’s Resolve to Stop It – Top 3 Takeaways – May 12th, 2023
- Trump took the bait. One of the most common questions I’m asked is if Trump can win the next election. This answer is yes. In fact, if we held a snap election today as our border is being overrun with illegal immigrants in record numbers as Title 42 has come to a close, I am all but certain that Donald Trump would wax Joe Biden. But the most instructive question isn’t really can he win? It’s will he win? And the answer to that one is that none of us know. But what I do know is that given Joe Biden’s abject failures it’s mostly up to Trump. And that’s why it was so disappointing to see that Trump took the bait. And it’s an ominous sign for the next presidential election. There were many comments and many moments being spun in various directions. If you search for video of CNN’s Town Hall with Donald Trump, you’ll see news organization after news organization, starting with CNN itself, cutting up what they perceive to be his worst moments, like telling the moderator (more on her in a moment), that she’s a “nasty person”. That he won’t say whether he wants Ukraine or Russia to win the war. That he won’t commit to a position on a potential federal abortion ban if proposed. That he mocked a woman he’d sexually assaulted (according to the NY jury liable verdict). Most news outlets were always going to take what they could from this to show him in the most unfavorable light. And the line of questioning was clearly aimed to frame him in the worst possible light. That’s not the least bit surprising – however Trump did give them a lot to work with. That said, what you’ll find most of all is an incarnation of this...
- “Trump digs in on election lies”. Wednesday night’s CNN Town Hall with Trump was a really odd combination of what turned out to be not so much a town hall but really a debate between Trump and Kaitlan Collins with Trump having a home field advantage (the audience was a largely pro-Trump group). And it was as instructive as it was revealing. The instructive part is that there’s no longer an opportunity for questions and answers between Trump and mainstream news schlubs. It’s going to be a debate. There’s nothing but sheer hostility in the line of questioning, the rebuttals/theoretical fact-checking and a belief that he must be repeatedly called a liar for his 2020 stance. And that takes us to the revealing part. Yes, Kaitlan Collins started the show by baiting him with 2020. However, yes, he took it. And that’s the biggest thing. I’ve said it many times – including like many others have – to Donald Trump personally and I’ll say it again. Elections are always about the future. They’re never about the past. Anyone, including Donald Trump who runs on the past will lose. The best answer would have been, how about asking a question that matters to people today? Why are you still stuck in the past? Instead, his first response when prodded about 2020 was somewhat disciplined. He answered he’d “suspend” was the way the question was worded, talk of the 2020 election. However, then she poked again. And that's when he took the bait saying... The Constitution says that we’re supposed to have legal and well-maintained and well-looked-at elections and we didn’t have that. Then Collins said there was no evidence of election fraud. Trump responded...That was a horrible election...unless someone is very stupid...That’s not helpful. Much like presidential debates in which people will say this person won or that person won, that’s all a load of bull. Every individual who consumes a debate decides who won through their eyes and their views – not anyone else’s. To that end over the past day some have said Trump was great or he was awful – the same principal applies. But here’s what I can tell you. It isn’t possible to win over new voters by running on the past. In fact, there’s only the potential to lose some you already had. Trump can win the 2024 Presidential Election. However, he only will if he leaves the past behind. Speaking of the future...
- Sheer chaos at the border but a small win from Florida. If Joe Biden is good at anything it’s creating a crisis and then succeeding at making it exponentially worse. Much like his having inherited an economy with only 1.2% inflation which he managed to turn into 9, he’s managed to take over a border where a wall was being built, migrants were remaining in Mexico until and unless they were deemed legitimate asylum seekers (which almost none ever were or ever are). Now, in Joe Biden’s first two years, a total of 4.5 million illegal border crossers have been allowed to enter our country. A total that’s larger than the population of 24 states. And what do we have now, with the expiration of Title 42? Sheer chaos and absolute lawlessness at the border. Already this week we’d set daily records for illegal border crossings each day, with greater than 10,000 per day crossing over (or an annualized pace of 3.7 million). And now? They’ve probably lost any way to effectively count. There is sheer chaos at the border. Our country is truly being subjected to an invasion by those who lack legal status in it. This is absolute lawlessness. This is sheer chaos. It’s a national security risk for our country. It’s a great financial burden for our country. And the local impact of the illegals spilling into our communities from across the country is that of profound safety, financial and stability risks. On that note, score a win from Florida via legal action taken by AG Ashely Moody. Her office sued the Biden Administration over their planned “paroled” releases of processed illegal immigrants masquerading as asylum seekers and won. A federal judge has ruled in favor of Florida stating that the Biden Administration can’t move forward with their planned unlawful releases for at least the next two weeks. Let's be clear. These illegal immigrants pouring across our border make our communities less safe. They cost our communities money that comes out of our local tax dollars when they arrive and seek assistance. And they’re the root cause of the fentanyl and human trafficking crisis. And what this means as Joe Biden allows this open border to persist, is that he makes our communities less safe. Joe Biden costs our communities resources that could be spent on our benefit. And Joe Biden is the root cause of the fentanyl and human trafficking crisis. But hey, still no mean Trump tweets (even though Elon will now let him) this really all has been and continues to be so much better, right? In policing there’s the thin blue line. In politics, that thin line is manned by Florida.