The Left is agog at the audacity of Donald Trump. They are because Trump is doing as president just what he promised to do as a candidate. This astounds the Left because their candidates always run to the center and then govern to the left. Since their candidates never do what they promise, they cannot come to grips with someone who does. The contrast may be no less jarring than Trump’s policies themselves.
Assuredly the Left hates President Trump’s policies. Drill, baby, drill; illegal immigration enforcement; ending DEI programs throughout the federal government; and challenging birthright citizenship — all emit a nails-on-blackboard sound to the American Left’s tender ears.
However, the Left’s shock runs deeper, more elementally, as well. The Left never do what they say; they say what they don’t intend to do; and they accuse others of doing what they are doing. The Left does not know what to make of someone like Trump who is their mirror image.
The Left never does what they say. They don’t because if they did then they could never advance their extremist agenda. So, their professedly benign environmental agenda devolves into banning fossil fuels — gas appliances, internal combustion engines, stopping exploration and export — only after they have power.
They, therefore, must proclaim their aims to be moderate and that these will promote things that no one could object to: “saving the planet,” rather than redistributing the wealth that their policies intend.
For the Left, words do not have meaning. Instead, words are merely a means, not the message itself. They are not meant to be used for promises but for tools. They are not supposed to be literal, but lateral — malleable things that will slide sideways when the time is right.
The Left never says what they intend to do. They don’t because if they did then no one would ever give them a chance to implement their extremist agenda. Who besides those supporting sanctuary cities and that Haitian illegal immigrant and gang member now famous for screaming “Biden forever!” would vote for throwing open the nation’s borders?
The Left always accuses others of doing what they themselves are guilty of. They do because if they did not distract observers, their own extremist actions would be visible for what they are. Their opponents are always labeled racists (though the Left supports DEI programs based explicitly on race criteria and CRT, which is a thoroughly race-based refutation of traditional America) and fascists (despite fascists having been socialists and the Left aiming to deny all dissent with a Cancel Culture).
The Left’s politicians are even more guilty of this bait-and-switch approach than the Left as a whole. They are because, needing to win votes in a broad electorate — one often containing moderates and (shudder) conservatives — they must be even more duplicitous than their collective coalition. Witness the claimed “moderates” — Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
The Left gets it. This is why they did not push for Biden to exit the race and then, once he did, they did not renounce Harris for claiming she had renounced her former extremist positions — i.e. their positions. They didn’t mind, because they knew she didn’t mean it.
The Left knew “the fix” was in. It did not matter what either Biden or Harris said or did — or whether it was Biden or Harris who was saying it; they knew that their extremist positions would be well served by whichever of the two won.
Now comes Donald J. Trump. He said what he was going to do. Repeatedly. For years. He said it when people mocked him, when people ignored him, and when they disapproved of him. He is still saying them now that he is back in the White House.
To the Left, this is incomprehensible.
Even more incomprehensible is the fact that Trump is proving popular by doing so. His approval ratings are at all-time highs and his favorability rating reflects it. He is even cool now, with sports stars regularly mimicking his dance moves.
He has said what he would do and now he is doing what he said. Exactly. And Americans like him for it. In fact, they like him now more than ever for it.
To the Left — and by the Left — this is not how politics is played. As a result, their collective head is about to explode at Trump’s audacity to act honestly and America’s bequeathing of popularity for it.
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READ MORE from J.T. Young:
As California Burns, Is It Also Awakening to Disastrous Democrat Policies?
Joe Biden: The Most Dangerous Man in America
Democrats Mistake Their People for ‘The People’
J.T. Young is the author of the recent book, Unprecedented Assault: How Big Government Unleashed America’s Socialist Left from RealClear Publishing and has over three decades’ experience working in Congress, the Department of Treasury, the Office of Management, and Budget, and representing a Fortune 20 company.