by Thomas Ertl, The Unz Review:
When it comes to political opinions and commentary, there are times where one must review past analysis with honesty and self-criticism, admitting errors. Admitting mistakes can clean the slate and give the commentator a new start. Thus, this article is my attempt to redeem my former assessments.
In the 2016 presidential race, I had some opportunities to work with several evangelical political organizations that promoted the candidacy of Donald J. Trump.
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Promoting Trump in 2016 was no easy task. It was a challenge convincing American evangelicals to vote for a brash NYC developer with an ego and questionable character.
Our approach was policy and reform over character. The “policy” priority was based on Trump’s early speeches that echoed all the right “America First” rhetoric to an American people who have been long forgotten by the ruling and money class.
Trump’s message of resetting American greatness by protecting the borders, rebuilding American industry, reforming the federal government, and stopping our endless wars deeply resonated with middle-class evangelicals and independents.
With candidate Trump, there was always conflicting views. He was pro-Christian and traditional values, but he was also pro-homosexuality. This made him a hard sell to those who identified as traditional conservatives. But, in our desperate political situation, we felt that the positives outweighed the negatives.
Trump presented himself as an outsider and was despised by the Republican establishment. That gave us a ray of hope that he could be the outsider who would be a true reformer.
With hope of reform and a shake-up of the establishment, we were compelled to support his candidacy. However, even Trump’s most optimistic supporters recognized that even if he were elected, the best outcome would be 35% of his promises kept. But 15% was more realistic.
So, despite the character issues and Trump being void of a core conservative worldview, we hoped we were electing an alpha-male reformer with “America First” instincts. But as we have seen, both character and worldview matter.
DRAINING THE SWAMP: WHAT HAPPENED?
“Draining the swamp” was Trump’s 2016 election theme that also resonated. Trump’s first administration failed in this effort. You can’t drain the Washington establishment swamp by filling your cabinet with swamp creatures.
Bobby Kennedy Jr. said it best: “Trump got rolled” in his first term in office.
We thought that in the four-year gap between his first and second terms, he had reconsidered his failures with a new and more aggressive approach to dealing with the swamp. Some of his second-term appointments brought hope. But apart from Kennedy Jr. at HHS, nothing much has changed.
Where is the reform at the FBI? Where is the overhaul of the planning division of the CIA? Is there any justice for the J-6 conspirators? When will the unredacted files for the Kennedy assassination be finally released? Will there be any reform of the private club called the Federal Reserve? Why is the DOJ redacting the Epstein files?
What happened to budget reform? Instead, we got the 2025 “Big Beautiful Bill,” a boon for lobbyists, financial elite, and corporate interests that saddled our national debt by an additional three-plus trillion dollars.
