I was enjoying lunch with a businessman friend at the Crooked Pint restaurant in the beautiful new curling center in downtown Chaska, MN. He was wearing a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat. It was obvious who he had voted for in the last U.S. presidential election, so, I asked him the question, “What do you think of Trump now?” He responded, “I believe he is doing a lot of good things, but he is an idiot!’ Many people may feel the same way.  They like what he is doing, but I don’t like some of the things he says, especially his tweets.

So what do I think of President Trump now? Well, I will tell you, but first, let us look at the issues surrounding President Trump.

MEDIA BIAS

The mainstream media is biased, extremely so. (But then, so is Fox News, who has a conservative bias.)  Consequently, if you only get information from these sources, you are not getting the full picture of what is going on.

The Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center at Harvard University (hardly a conservative organization) reported that CNN and NBC were 93% negative on President Trump during his first three months in office, while the two most powerful newspapers, The New York Times and The Washington Post, were 85% negative.  The Pew Research Center came up with similar findings.  Do you think that this has changed? Probably not. Instead, it has gotten worse.

MEDIA REPORTING

We have had an increase in stories based on ‘anonymous sources.’ This is all the more so in the age of the internet and social media and the barrage of a 24-hour news cycle. Bill O’Reilly states, “To say that American journalism is under intense scrutiny doesn’t even come close to describing the disarray existing inside many national news operations. The most vivid example of that statement is ABC News’ suspension of high-profile investigative reporter Brian Ross because he erroneously reported that, as a candidate, Donald Trump ordered members of his staff to coordinate with Russian operatives. Ross had no evidence to back that up. Instead, he relied on anonymous sources who apparently misled him.”

Put it this way. The mainstream media has continued to be adversarial to President Trump, not only in what and how issues are reported but also in what is not reported. As a result, many people are misinformed as to what President Trump is actually doing.

The point is simply that you can no longer rely on the established media organizations alone to give you a full and fair understanding of the issues that we face today, especially in regards to President Trump. As Bill O’Reilly put it “America needs a press it can trust.”

INABILITY TO ACCEPT ELECTION RESULTS

When President Trump won the election, many people were stunned and shocked as they could not believe it had happened. Many still have not accepted the fact that he won the election. Hillary wrote a book on the election entitled ‘What Happened?’ Like others, she couldn’t believe what happened. To this day, there are those who don’t think Trump should have or did win the election. They quote the national totals, ignoring the fact we are a republic, and each state has a part to play in the electoral college.

THE TRUMP HATERS

From all this has come a segment of the population that can best be described as ‘Trump Haters.’ They loathe him, what he stands for and what he does. They are out to get him out of office one way or another, including raising the specter of impeachment. This reaction then leads people to question President Trump’s mental state. In all fairness, people did the same with Obama, but this time it seems to generate more pure hate. Note that hatred in this country is not limited to just Trump. The hatred knows no boundaries. Time Magazine had a front page article ‘Hate in America,’ particularly relating to the events of Charlottesville on August 12, 2017

OBAMA’S OPPOSITION TO TRUMP

For the first time in history, we have a former President setting up organized opposition to the current administration with the establishment of a group called ‘Organizing for Action.’ Obama is evidently going to stay involved, through community organizations for progressive change. Paul Sherry writing for the New York Post says, “The OFA will fight President Donald Trump at every turn of his presidency and the ex-president will command them from a bunker less than two miles from the White House.” (i.e. his office)

WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE AND SUPPORT TRUMP

In light of all the above, why do people still like and support Trump? There are many reasons including-

  • He tells it as he sees it. No political correctness about him which for many people is refreshing. Lance Wallinau declared ‘Trump is a wrecking ball to the spirit of political correctness in America.’
  • He stands against the political establishment in Washington, including those in his own Republican Party.
  • He keeps his word. Many Presidents (as well as Congress) have said they would endorse Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel. The only one to do so has been Trump.
  • They like many of his decisions, including the appointment of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
  • They support the removal many of the regulations Obama put in place, especially in regard to business.
  • The growth in jobs (over 2 million in last year) and the drop in unemployment.
  • The support for the military and law enforcement.
  • The victory over ISIS in the war in the Middle East.
  • The tax cuts.

TRUMP DEFICIENCES

Remember that I started this article with a quote that ended with ‘but he is an idiot!’ What did that mean? It refers particularly to the tweets that Trump makes that many people would like to see him eliminate or at least change the tone of.

Trump is by his own admission a ‘counterpuncher.’ So, if you attack him, he will fight back, harder if possible. He is not the usual nice guy president, and that irks even some of his supporters.

As one responder to Word Magazine wrote, “It concerns me that Christians are so adamant in their defense of Trump. We have a leader that Proverbs would call a fool: arrogant, quick-tempered, greedy and sexually immoral.”

CONCLUSION

That is some of the backdrop to the question ‘What do you think of President Trump now?’  In the next letter, I will give you my answer.

PHOTO CREDIT

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 22, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center at Harvard University Report on Trumps first 100 Days – https://shorensteincenter.org/news-coverage-donald-trumps-first-100-days/

Pew Research Center Analysis – http://www.journalism.org/2017/10/02/a-comparison-to-early-coverage-of-past-administrations/

Bill O’Reilly Quotes – https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/bill-oreilly-press-trust-brian-ross/2017/12/05/id/830066/

Time Magazine Cover ‘Hate in America’ – http://time.com/4903680/edel-rodriguez-time-cover/

Barack Obama/OFA – https://barackobama.com

Paul Sherry New York Post Article – https://nypost.com/2017/02/11/how-obama-is-scheming-to-sabotage-trumps-presidency/