New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s indictment of former President Donald Trump on trumped-up charges last Thursday had been anticipated yet still sent shock waves throughout the country. He was already the front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, and speculation ahead of the indictment drove Trump's poll numbers into the stratosphere. A Fox News poll released last week showed him up 30 points over Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), his nearest competitor.
If — and this is a big if, considering the first votes in the Republican primary are 10 months away — Trump clinches the GOP nomination, nearly every pundit seems to think Trump would lose the general election to President Joe Biden. But what if the pundits are wrong?
GEORGE SOROS AND THE MEDIA NEED TO STOP PLAYING DUMB ABOUT ALVIN BRAGG
Trump’s shocking victory in 2016 confounded even the most seasoned political thinkers. Hillary Clinton’s coronation was thought to be inevitable until election night, when strangely, one critical battleground state after another fell to the brash, uncouth real estate developer and reality TV star from Manhattan. Who’s to say Trump couldn’t do it again?
It’s not that unlikely of a scenario, especially considering Biden’s unpopularity. Biden is the single worst U.S. commander in chief in modern memory, eclipsing even former President Jimmy Carter for this unwanted distinction. (Carter is a good man, but he was a terrible president whose missteps caused great harm to the country).
Let me preface my comments about Biden’s presidency by clarifying that I don’t think he’s in charge. His cognitive problems, apparent from the moment he launched his campaign in April 2019, have deteriorated significantly over the past four years to the point that virtually every public appearance is choreographed and still manages to end with a gaffe. That said, he is happy to go along with the radical agenda set by the leftists who are calling the shots.
This agenda is wreaking havoc on our nation. Biden’s administration has effectively declared war on the Constitution and has advanced the “fundamental transformation of the U.S.” begun during the Obama administration. The cumulative effect of two years of deliberately destructive, anti-American decisions has brought us to a perilous moment in history. On all fronts, both domestic and foreign, Democrats are pushing this country into a downward spiral. If this continues, we won’t need to worry about Russia or China taking us down — we’ll have done that all by ourselves.
Trump, in contrast, was a great president. Despite the relentless pursuit by members of a deep state determined to remove him from office, he accomplished a great deal in four years. To name just a few of those achievements: His tax cuts and focus on deregulation triggered an economic boom. He reshaped the judiciary, made America energy independent, strengthened our military, secured our border, and stood up to China. There’s no question America is worse off as a result of his 2020 loss.
If not for the pandemic, which enabled universal mail-in voting and Democrats’ collusion with Big Tech and the legacy media to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story, Trump likely would have prevailed in 2020.
Moreover, even though Trump is facing multiple legal battles, it is obvious they are all based on politically contrived charges. On the other hand, Biden and members of his family are facing far more substantive allegations that cut right to the heart of America’s national security and which House Republicans are just starting to bring to light.
It may be improbable, but now that Trump’s nomination appears (at this point) to be almost inevitable, a Trump-DeSantis ticket would give Republicans their best shot to take back the White House. Imagine Biden and our hapless Vice President Kamala Harris up against Trump and DeSantis.
Right now, the one person standing in the way of such a formidable combination is Trump himself. Trump’s incessant and childish attacks on DeSantis are turning off even some of his supporters. He is not helping himself by calling the popular Florida governor “Ron DeSanctimonious,” “Meatball Ron,” or “Tiny D.” He’s making himself look immature and decidedly unpresidential. The insults are only reminding people of the reasons why so many independents and even some Republicans turned against him in 2020.
With that said, Trump still enjoys massive support among the public — a fact Democrats seem determined to forget. This latest attempt to derail Trump’s political future will only solidify that support. And a few smart political moves, including bringing DeSantis on board his campaign rather than ostracizing him, could guarantee another Trump victory.
It was foolish to underestimate Trump in 2016, and it would be foolish to underestimate him now.
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Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner, Power Line, the Western Journal, and AFNN and a past contributor to RedState, Newsmax, and Bongino.com. Her articles have appeared on many sites, including RealClearPolitics, MSN, and The Federalist. Please follow Elizabeth on Twitter or LinkedIn.