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Welcome to The Common Bridge. I'm your host, Rich Helppie. We're happy to bring you this special episode on our Substack platform. We hope you're having a good day as you listen, read, or watch. Today, we will talk about the recent CNN Town Hall in New Hampshire with former President Donald Trump, and I would like to share with you my oft-repeated comments on Mr. Trump regarding his leadership in the Republican primary. I will explain why he would be a bad choice and how he has proven that he is not capable, and then end with why, despite all that, he still appeals to some. So, pull up a chair and have a listen. Maybe you're at the gym on the elliptical and you can listen in.
First of all, my personal views on Donald Trump - which have never failed me - are that number one, he doesn't know the job of President. If I were on an executive committee looking for a candidate for chief executive, he wouldn't make the cut because he couldn't pass the interview. Secondly, he doesn't seem to want to learn the job or what it takes to be the President of the United States. It takes discipline, great preparation, and strong listening skills. Additionally, he has massive personal issues which are undeniable.
Who votes for him? Well, his base is a part of it, but he has never expanded it. Some Democrats may also vote for him during the primary because they know he can't win in a general election. This saves current President Biden and the Democrats from running on their record. Another reason he remains a leader is because he makes the media his foil and they play right into his hands. Imagine if they actually reported honestly and could be trusted; this guy wouldn't even be on anyone's radar. So why has he proven to be incapable? Firstly, he is always about himself, as seen in everything from the COVID briefings and Inauguration Day to his current claims of election fraud that don't seem to go away. This is not the job of the president; the president is supposed to serve. Trump has personal issues that prevent him from fulfilling his role effectively.
Secondly, January 6th, no matter how you dice it and slice it and what you personally think may have occurred and why it occurred, some things are just undeniable. The attorney general for the president told him after a month of investigation that the claims of fraud changing the election were "bullshit;" those were the words of Attorney General William Barr. His own vice president said, "you need to follow law," and he took exception to that. Finally, when you lose, try to lose gracefully; [to] not greet the incoming president as he arrived at the White House is just beyond the pale. Then think about this; suppose by some strange turn of events Donald Trump was elected president in 2024. Despite the fact that we'd again see his opposition rioting in the streets after a duly conducted election, what would he be doing? It would be revenge. It would be pardons. It would be a rewrite of history. It would again be all about him and we'd be back to the name-calling, the pettiness, and the crazy 3 am tweets. Maybe those were novel in '16, or maybe nobody was expecting them.
But we would all look like idiots around the world if we did that again. So why does Donald Trump still appeal? Well, I'm going to go through a list of them from my point of view. Firstly, there is sympathy. Every time there is a manufactured story or conviction by the media or deliberate misreporting or exaggeration, it just helps Mr. Trump. Yes, I know it pumps up the base on the left and gives people a place to exercise their anger. But also, more people have seen enough of the coordinated talking points and mis-characterizations of Mr. Trump. When they put a headline on something and you look past it, it's not really what happened. It's old; it's exhausting. That's why people are turning off. Next, let's face it: the Hunter Biden story was throttled.
Now we know - due to testimony under oath - that 51 intelligence chiefs were asked to provide cover by the Biden administration to say something that was not true. An appeal for Mr. Trump is that he's not part of that. And now we have a whistle-blower coming out about it.
Money flowing from international sources into the Biden family is cause for concern which leads people to question what the alternative to more of Joe Biden would be. Additionally, there are larger issues that need to be addressed, such as the border and developing a rational immigration policy. It's important that we don't have people coming in hordes, which doesn't reflect the values of our great country. Military readiness is also a concern; how prepared are we? The mishandled Afghanistan withdrawal plays into Mr. Trump's favor from a political point of view. In addition to this, we are facing raging inflation caused by the big spending bills. A conundrum surrounds energy, as we are transitioning from a net energy exporter to a net energy importer. A more rational plan needs to be formulated about how we change the energy sources in the country. Lastly, the war in Ukraine is another important issue, and as seen in the CNN interview, certain news outlets want Donald Trump to say he supports their position. One of the combatants is expected to lose and they insist that he says it right after he says he just wants people to stop dying. It's almost as if the CNN anchor is arguing that having the dying and destruction stop is a bad thing. You couldn't possibly go into a three-way negotiation or a moderated negotiation if you're publicly saying, "We want that person to lose." That's not mediation. If it is, people like the idea of Europe paying more for their own defense.
Abortion, weirdly, could be a good topic for Mr. Trump because he's duly taking credit for the judicial appointees that overturned Roe versus Wade and also saying that he's looking for a middle ground about the exceptions for rape and incest and such and then at a predetermined period in the gestational process - all reasonable things most Americans would agree with. Back to the sympathy; the Presidential Records Act. Again, the CNN moderator admitted that Joe Biden took documents as vice president, which is something that he can't declassify, and then accepts that old, honest and organized Joe stated that he returned everything. However, this does not seem believable. Additionally, President Biden's continuous appeal to what the majority of Americans believe are fringe constituencies is causing fear and unease.
More left-leaning voices are calling for censorship and de-platforming, which is a concerning threat to a free society. When people can no longer express their opinions freely, it can lead to the death of a free society. Those who think de-platforming is a great idea should remember that it may eventually affect them too. Finally, there is the matter of Joe Biden's age and health, which are obviously affecting him. Had the opposing party chosen a young and energetic leader instead, there would be no room for Mr. Trump. The opposition cannot run on their own accomplishments, so they naturally want to run against Donald Trump; they cannot make such claims regarding border control, the economy, the climate, taxes, or energy.
Now, as I've said for years, I don't think Mr. Trump belongs in the Oval Office. I think it's terrible for the country to have a replay of Biden versus Trump. I've published on this topic and, America, it's time to move on. It's up to us; we need to get better candidates. We need to insist that the people we elect behave better, and we need to turn off the media that just wants to anger and divide us. This is your host, Rich Helppie, on The Common Bridge, with today's editorial outlook.
(Watch, Listen, or Read) We Need a New Playbook