Why I'm voting for Trump in 2020

It's largely a moral choice

(This post was originally on unequallyyoked on October 23, 2020; I am currently consolidating these posts to one site and moving them to weoverme. I also posted this on Facebook right before the election, and received 500+ angry comments)

I’m voting for Donald Trump. It’s largely a moral choice. For my friends who are also voting for Trump, but fear to share your hand, I thought I'd share my thoughts because I know you want them to be said. The left’s sanctimonious accusations that anyone who votes for him is debauched with no conscience has been so insulting that it has only served to move more people like me to the right. This overused failed syllogism delegitimizes half the country. Constant derision is exhausting. A Christian friend of mine wrote that those who’d vote for Trump wouldn’t be forgiven. Not particularly Christian.

My vote in 2016 wasn’t so much “for” Trump, it was “against” Hillary Clinton’s duplicity.

This time around I’m voting for Trump because character and decency still matter. Democrats are not the party of unity and honor that they tout themselves to be. They are not the paragon of morality. When Michelle Obama lectured the country during the DNC that our leaders are encouraging white supremacy while those rioting and looting on the street were justified, that wasn’t “going high” as she so frequently lectures others to do, it was a clinic on going low. Harris and Biden are carrying forward that unrepentant pharisaical division.

Evangelical John Piper wrote this to admonish those voting for Trump: “I find it bewildering that Christians can be so sure that greater damage will be done by bad judges, bad laws, and bad policies than is being done by the culture-infecting spread of the gangrene of sinful self-exaltation, and boasting, and strife-stirring.” As a Christian, I would pose the same statement to him. Piper also wrote: “Forgiveness through Christ is always possible where there is repentance and childlike trust in Jesus. But where humble repentance is absent, the sins condemn.”

After seeing throughout the last four years the dishonorable, arrogant, reprehensible and unprecedented media-enabled coup attempts to get rid of Trump, I would say repentance is definitely called for but there’s little likelihood we’ll get that from Democrats.

So I’m excited to cast my ballot for Trump. Yes he lacks humility and is narcissistic. Perhaps those are qualities needed to withstand and survive incessant attacks, not just on him, but his supporters. For Biden and Harris to be part of that scheme hardly makes them more honorable and humble. Worse yet, if they do get into office, they’ll be aided by a media apparatus and an educational system that will always package their agenda and image as compassionate, selfless and moderate. Let’s not be fooled, Harris will bring us closer to the radical left. Non-partisan govtrak ranked her the “most liberal compared to All senators.”

At the final presidential debate, Joe Biden blamed Trump for the COVID deaths. How does this make him honest? Did Biden’s plan also sound any different than what this administration is already doing?

I moderated a panel at Vator’s event called Healthcare in Politics, where government officials, innovators and healthcare policy wonks cried the same meme: We should have had a coordinated national policy against COVID! After I shared the numerous ways the federal government did respond (travel ban, FDA’s easing of rules to get the private sector to produce tests, national Shelter in Place and social distancing guidelines, $2.2 trillion relief package, CMS telehealth deregulation, etc.), I asked what could have been added to those initiatives. The basic response was - “We should have had a national mask mandate.” Oh! Of course! Genius. I’m switching parties now! [Watch the video of the panel.] Nonetheless, on April 3, Trump announced the CDC recommended everyone wear masks.

The Hunter Biden scandal is also replete with evidence, not of the younger Biden’s dalliances though there’s many, but of the media’s irresponsible protective coverage of the story.

First Facebook and Twitter suppressed the distribution of the New York Post article that unearthed emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop, emails the FBI has independently confirmed as authentic and the Biden campaign has not denied as genuine.

Much of the media has ignored the very real possibility that Joe Biden might have crafted national policy to enrich his son or that he might even have benefitted himself. I’m not accusing Biden of this. But at least, there’s enough to investigate. Yet, the media is doing nothing of the sort but everything in their might to debunk it. There’s an endless supply of analysis and opinion, like this one from MSNBC: “Trump’s desperate ‘Bidengate’ Hail Mary keeps backfiring.” But you can see the left-leaning tendencies even from supposed objective reporting, such as this piece on CNN: The anatomy of the New York Post’s dubious story.

The most disconcerting admission of non-coverage came from NPR, whose Managing Editor for News Terence Samule said the outlet didn’t want to “waste” time on “stories that are not real stories.” Fortunately, some of my friends who are centrist see this blatant disregard for objectivity and truth-seeking.

Where was this type of reporting when it came to Russian collusion? The Democrats and their media allies were happy to run with it for years even though the FBI in January 2017 clearly admitted that the document [Steele dossier] that was the basis for the investigation and surveillance on the Trump campaign was flawed and uncorroborated. One piece of evidence came from former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s testimony in 2017. “I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone in it was plotting/conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election.”

The double-standard reporting principles have been a winning strategy for Biden, if the polls are accurate. This is a sad state of affairs. The press is a critical part of the checks and balances in our governing process - often referred to as the “fourth branch” of government. If the press continues to kowtow to the Democrats and we lose the “final check” on the system, we are surely setting a course for tyranny.

Additionally, Biden’s manipulation of Trump’s words betrays his lack of dignity. Here’s what Biden said during the debate. “He started off his campaign coming down the escalator saying he’s getting rid of those Mexican rapists. He’s banned Muslims because they’re Muslims…” This is not true and honest and well-read people know it. It’s just one of the repeated lies about Trump I wrote about and deconstructed in my book Unequally Yoked.

For those who like to say that Trump was impeached for “Abuse of Power” then let’s at least apply the same standard to Obama, who could have been impeached for the same reason when he asked Dmitry Medvedev to tell Putin to ease up on missile defense until after the election.

Trump’s sexual misconduct allegations are horrific and disgusting, but let’s not sweep under the rug the more than dozen sexual assault allegations against Biden. Also, I’m sure if half the men in this country were caught on a hot mic, their locker room talk might sound similarly gross. Preachers have confessed their obsession with pornography. Can you forgive them?

Many accuse Trump to be an indefatigable prevaricator. As I’ve said many times, when everyone is counting, it’s hard not to find some embellishment here and there. But to say Trump lied 360 times by saying “the economy is the best in history” isn’t a lie when you consider unemployment was the lowest in 50 years (pre-Covid) and the stock market was and continues to set record highs. When Obama said in 2016 that “America’s economy is not just better than it was eight years ago” you could argue that it wasn’t better off since he doubled the deficit to $19 trillion up from $10 trillion when he took office. Was Obama lying? The lie narrative is simply at best a half truth.

The question isn’t: Is Donald Trump a liar? The question is: Who isn’t?

The question isn’t: Is Trump immoral? The question is: Who is not?

The question isn’t: Does Donald Trump share our Christian faith? The question is: Have his policies reflected what some Christians stand for?

So here’s why I’m voting for him in 2020. His transparency has been net refreshing, if only to get Democrats in a tizzy and to expose their hypocrisy.

I’ll start with the policy wins I am excited about:

Non-political Judges -- I am for originalists judges. Judges who look at the Constitution based on its original intent and understanding when it was ratified. Trump appointed 53 appeals court judges and 3 Supreme Court judges. Republican-nominated judges tend to vote based on the law and not politics. Out of the 67 decisions made by the Supreme Court in the 2019 term, four justices appointed by Democrats voted together 51 times while Republican-nominated judges only voted together 37 times, according to Ben Shapiro.

Deregulation -- For all the talk of Trump ushering in a Hitler-like authoritarian government, the left is bringing us far closer to a Marxist and Stalin totalitarian regime. To use Joe Biden’s favorite line, “Come on, Man!” The Democrats have embraced the self-admitted Marxist organization Black Lives Matter. The left controls the media and wants to control even more of the economy through initiatives like the Green New Deal. Trump wants to move power away from an unaccountable administrative state. He added the fewest regulations compared to Obama and G.W. Bush in the first two years and initiated 243 deregulatory items. Source: Cato

Anti-abortion initiatives -- I am for women to have rights. But I’m also for women and men to be accountable for their actions, and there have been many unintended and unfortunate consequences for allowing abortion to be too easily accessible. I’m for prudence when it comes to making a heart-wrenching decision like abortion. And I’m not alone. If Americans are pretty split on being pro-choice and pro-abortion, then we shouldn’t have abortion be a federally funded procedure.

Trump supported a “Born Alive Act” - institute penalties and jail time for healthcare providers who do not provide medical care to a child born alive due to a botched abortion. The care would be to preserve life, just like any child born. Democrats say “infanticide” is already illegal in every state. The bill failed in the Senate. Sen. Harris was against this bill. If there is no need for federal law to save these born alive babies, then the same argument can be applied to abortions. There is no need for a federal law if there is already state laws that support abortion. Trump also backed “No-taxable funding for abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2019.” HHS created Conscience and Religious Freedom Division fights for doctors, nurse and healthcare providers who don’t want to participate in abortions. (source) Harris is just a tool for Planned Parenthood, advocating many of their policies, including federal right for healthcare providers to provide abortions free limitations and bans (such as getting ultrasounds and follow state medical procedures, like waiting periods. This is part of the Women’s Health Protection Act. Biden/Harris would also eliminate the Hyde amendment, which would ban federal funding for abortions.

Economy -- Admittedly, the economy under Obama was recovering tepidly and Trump’s policies one could argue just continued the slow growth. But under Trump there were several quarters of 3-plus percent growth. (source) Pre-Covid, Trump created more manufacturing jobs and lowered the unemployment rate more than Obama. In the last 30 months of Obama’s term, manufacturing employment grew by 185,000 or 1.5 percent. In Trump’s first 30 months, 499,000 jobs were added, up 4 percent. Comparing these two periods, Trump added 314,000 more jobs. (source) Unemployment was 7.8 percent for Obama Sep 2012 (re-election) down from 10 percent in October 2009; Unemployment under Trump was 7.9 percent Sep 2012 down from 14.7 percent in April. But it also trended to 3.6-3.9 percent in 2018/2019. Blue-color jobs also grew 3.3%,

The stock market did go up from sub-7000 during the Great Recession amid the Obama years. Trump then continued the gains, largely due to tax cuts and a deregulatory environment. Trump tax cuts helped corporations spend $1 trillion in stock buybacks. More than half of Americans are invested directly into stocks. When we came to America, my family didn’t own any stocks. We didn’t own any property. We lived in a studio apartment. Stocks and property are not entirely generational wealth mechanisms.

Trump has shown more fiscal constraint over Obama, at least prior to COVID. Obama entered with $10.6 trillion in total debt and left owing $19.9 trillion - about $1.6 trillion each year. Debt to GDP under Obama was 77.3% and up to 103.6 percent by the time he left. By 2019, that debt rose to $22 trillion under Trump, making the debt-to-GDP ratio 104%. Yet we saw a lot of gains in GDP and the stock market during this period. On Oct. 1, 2020, it hit $26.5 trillion, making the ratio surge to 136%. But this is largely due to COVID-19.

Tax cuts - I’m generally for tax cuts and supply-side economics. Americans paid about $64 billion less in federal income taxes in the first year when the tax cut was signed into law. The sharpest drops in payments went to taxpayers earning between $25k and $100k a year. Taxpayers making between $40k to $500k saw a roughly 15% tax reduction while those making over $1 million saw a 4% tax reduction. Also, the top 50 percent of all taxpayers pay 97% of all individual income taxes. While the bottom 50 percent pay the 2.8%. The top 1% paid 39% of all individual income taxes. (source)

The Middle East wins -- Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, unwound the Iran nuclear deal (a move highly supported by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice). Even the Brookings Institute, not exactly your conservative think tank, rebuked the Iran deal. “The presumed trigger for a possible Middle East nuclear weapons competition is Iran, which has violated nonproliferation obligations, conducted activities relevant to the development of nuclear weapons.” Their activity raised concerns among other countries. Trump’s team, led by Jared Kushner, brokered relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, as well as Bahrain and Israel -- creating a network of peace. The last time there was a reconciliation between an Arab state and Israel was in 1994 with Jordan. The four Arab countries that recognize Israel are Bahrain, UAE, Jordan and Egypt.

Police reform and addressing underserved communities:
Black women terminate pregnancies via abortion at far higher rates than other women. Some call it “black genocide.” While there are pro-life Democrats, Republicans are far more explicit and supportive of anti-abortion and pro-life policies. There’s a large body of research that shows the benefit of Charter Schools for lower-income and black families. More Republicans embrace Charter Schools than Democrats. The Trump administration has provided hundreds of millions of dollars for historically black colleges and at the same time forgiven hundreds of millions of dollars of loans. There was criminal justice reform with the First Step Act (FSA), which was signed into law in 2018, and referred to by The New Yorker as “one of the most significant criminal-justice-reform bills in decades.” The FSA appears to be successfully reducing sentences, something social justice warriors are fighting for. Ben Carson proposed reducing regulatory hurdles for affordable housing, and the list goes on. This isn’t all talk. Prior to COVID-19 unemployment for black and Hispanic Americans had dropped to its lowest point in history. We can’t ignore progress just because it doesn’t fit a narrative.

Democrat’s double standards

Impeachment farce - Trump was impeached on two counts: Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress. Firstly, Congress didn’t vote on an impeachment inquiry, Pelosi just started it. It’s not unconstitutional to not have a vote, but unprecedented. Republicans were also not allowed to issue subpoenas and at times have been denied the ability to cross-examine. Additionally, Democrats abandoned using the courts to compel witnesses, something they had at their disposal. They just sent subpoenas, which Trump had every right to ignore. As for Abuse of Power because he asked a foreign leader to investigate corruption, presidents do that all the time. President Obama asked Dmitry Medvedev to tell Putin to ease up on missile defense until after the election. Even Romney criticized Obama for wanting political favor to help him win re-election. (source: wsj)

Russian collusion illusion -- Robert Mueller’s final report in April 2019 concluded that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. His two-year tax-payer-funded probe cost $30-plus trillion. Mueller didn’t find any evidence for criminal indictments. “[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” Former Dir. of National Intelligence James Clapper testified: “I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone in it was plotting/​conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election.” source.

Most egregious abuse of power was the use of the Steele Dossier. Christopher Steele, a former British spy, was financed by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC to find dirt against Trump. He came up with a report that came largely from one “primary subsource,” according to the Justice Department. When agents investigated the source said there was no basis for those allegations, they were not factual, only business intelligence. Yet FBI interviews in January 2017 showed the FBI used the dossier as the basis for warrants to surveil Trump aid Carter Page during the 2016 campaign, according to the Justice Department. There’s nearly 60 pages of notes from the interviews making it clear the FBI knew the dossier had spurious information (as early as 2017). The FBI didn’t even corroborate the allegations prior to Page being surveilled in October 2016. Even the source said the information was business intelligence but nothing factual.

In February 2017, one of the FBI investigators wrote an internal FBI analysis saying “we are unaware of ANY Trump advisors engaging in conversations with Russian intelligence officials.” Yet the NYTimes still wrote articles “Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence.” Moreover, they used the dossier to renew surveillance warrants. (source: wsj)

I wrote my book Unequally Yoked to largely deconstruct how the media has misrepresented Trump. In the last four years, I’ve seen a false narrative explode into mainstream consciousness as the postmodern moral polarity view is being adopted and canceling out those who do not embrace the left’s version of right. Ad hominem has not only been permitted, it’s been a concerted strategy. Complex truths are turned into simple falsehoods. I’d love Trump to win if only so more people can see this hypocrisy. But it’s coming out. Truth always out distances deceit.

Cancel culture can’t go on ad infinitum or no one will be left to cancel. I’m proud to be voting for Trump.