Conservatives Should Support Trump
Many conservatives believe it is time for Trump to step aside and let someone else run in 2024. They say Trump is too old, caved on COVID, and failed to pass any significant legislation. Instead, they want younger Republicans like Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, or Mike Pompeo to run for President. Although many great candidates could run in 2024, conservatives should put aside their personal preferences and support Trump for reelection.
One of Trump’s greatest accomplishments as President was putting America’s interests first. Trump had the best trade and foreign policy of any President in decades. His tariffs on China protected American industries. He knew how to deal with China and Russia without needlessly provoking either. A prolonged war in Ukraine would have never happened if Trump was still President. Furthermore, he oversaw a historic peace deal in the middle east that allowed us to finally bring our troops home.
Under Trump’s leadership, the Republican Party was transformed from the party of military interventionism and big business into the party of nationalism and the working class. In only a few years, Trump crippled the old Republican establishment of Paul Ryan and John McCain and built a new multi-ethnic working-class coalition. Trump has continued his reformation of the GOP since leaving the White House. Thanks to Trump’s support, a new generation of conservatives like JD Vance, Blake Masters, Joe Kent, and Kari Lake have beaten their pro-establishment primary opponents. Trump is one of the best political reformers in American history.
Saving the Republican Party is not even Trump’s greatest accomplishment. Trump’s principal achievement is the overturn of Roe v. Wade. This single act alone makes him one of the greatest Presidents in American history. There is no telling how many lives Trump has saved. Overturning Roe would not have been possible without the pro-life movement, but Trump gets all the credit for actually delivering the victory.
Despite Trump’s long list of accomplishments, many conservatives argue that he should not run again in 2024. One of the most frequent arguments against Trump is that he caved on COVID. However, many people forget that Trump often stood alone against excessive COVID restrictions. He opposed lockdowns and did not use the crisis to grow the size of the federal government. Trump did not wear a mask for months after Democrats started mandating masks, and he rarely wore one later on in the pandemic. Trump remained calm when most of his current conservative critics were panicking. In hindsight, there was little that he could have done differently to improve his response to COVID. The media and Democrats had convinced the people that COVID was very deadly, and they blamed Trump for every death caused by it. Unfortunately, Trump simply did not have the political capital at the time to change the narrative.
Another common argument against Trump is that he is too old to run again. Trump has proved this false. He has more energy than any other politician today. Moreover, nobody else comes close to Trump’s level of connection with voters. His showman personality makes him the greatest communicator since Reagan. Trump resonates with the people, and it shows in the huge crowds he attracts wherever he speaks.
Although Trump could not pass most of his MAGA agenda through Congress during his first term, he did the best he could given the situation in Washington. Many conservatives have already forgotten what the Republican Party was like in the early years of Trump's first term. Everyone from conservative intellectuals and bureaucrats to Republican Congressmen and his own cabinet was working around the clock to save the swamp that Trump was trying to drain. Establishment leaders Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell controlled the Republican Congress during the first two years of Trump's presidency. By the time pro-Trump candidates began replacing establishment Republicans in Congress, Democrats had gained control of the House, preventing any more of Trump's agenda from passing. If Trump wins in 2024, the new pro-Trump Republican Congress will pass the rest of his MAGA agenda.
Most importantly, Trump must win reelection to prove that the left cannot destroy any President who is a threat to the bipartisan liberal establishment. If we do not reelect Trump, then it means Democrats can take down any conservative President through slander, witch hunts, unwarranted impeachments, deplatforming, and weaponizing the intelligence agencies. Reelecting Trump is the only way to prevent Democrats from using these methods again against the next conservative leader.
There are many good potential Republican candidates, but the reality is Trump will run for reelection, and he will win the Republican nomination. Nothing will stop Trump from running again. Even though a significant minority of Republicans would rather see someone else win the primary, the large majority of Republicans still support Trump. The worst-case scenario for conservatives is if a strong conservative like DeSantis declares war on Trump by running against him in 2024. A civil war within the conservative faction of the Republican Party would harm the conservative movement and our chances of winning the general election. Conservatives need to be united to defeat Democrats in 2024. Also, as a general rule, we should not seek out a new party leader when our current leader is great. Disloyalty to a good party leader breeds unnecessary division and harms the conservative movement.
Democrats will do whatever they think is necessary to stop anyone they believe is a threat to their power. Now is the time for all conservatives to unite behind Trump. Trump overturned Roe v. Wade, saved the Republican Party, and defeated the Clinton, Bush, and Cheney dynasties. He has earned our loyalty.