Dear editor,
I took interest in Donald Trump five years ago because he was not a typical presidential nominee. I wasn’t that familiar with his business background, connections to Hollywood or TV show. He wasn’t a career politician or Washington insider, and that intrigued me.
I really stood up and took notice when he beat out 16 other
nominees to win the Republican nomination. Who in the name of old school politics stands up to the GOP elite in Washington, extends his middle finger and still wins!
I voted for Trump in 2016 because he talked differently about governing. His message, whether you liked his brash honesty or hated it, always included the flag. He loved his country. He ran because he felt the American dream, as he lived it, was dying. He talked about these things with a businessman’s common sense, unlike the rote trappings of a career politician. People took to him. He made a pack with the American people to take our country back. Then the impossible happened, he won, and all hell broke loose.
First it came from within. His own majority in the House refused to work with him. He didn’t act “presidential.” That’s when I knew we had voted in the right person. Behind the scenes, his political enemies were scrambling to get power back. But could they somehow pressure this Washington outsider out of office?
Well, as we all witnessed, it wasn’t for lack of trying. The FBI and DOJ targeted vulnerable appointees and ruined careers digging up anything incriminating. We watched midnight raids on his political friends and tasteless video of foreign leaders mocking him in private. We all watched in real time the Mueller Investigation, Ukraine and the Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi impeachment hearings. Now, sincerely ask yourself, who does this crap to a sitting president. To an American president. How much time and energy was spent by our elected officials trying to discredit his office. Whatever happened to the losing party learning from their mistakes and working toward a winning message the next election cycle?
I have grown to respect the Trump presidency and his accomplishments more than ever. He kept his campaign promises under constant attacks and should win the Noble Peace Prize for his historical negotiations between Arab States and Israel.
Like a prize fighter, his messaging can be rude and crude on a good day, but no one can dispute his energy for the office and his ability to put America front and center. I wouldn’t bet against him next Tuesday.
Phil Harder of Wausau
Editor’s note: Wausau Pilot & Review gladly publishes commentary from readers, residents and candidates for local offices. The views of readers and columnists are independent of this newspaper and do not necessarily reflect the views of Wausau Pilot & Review. To submit, email [email protected] or mail to 500 N. Third St., Suite 208-8, Wausau, Wis. 54403.
