The case for Trump in 2020

The imminent American election is top of mind for many of us – and rightly so. The results of any American election have far-reaching consequences in this globalised and interconnected world.

We note with much concern that it’s becoming extremely fashionable for so-called critics of Trump to vilify and attack anyone who expresses any support for Trump and the Republican Party. Those who are on the attack are generally ill-informed or malicious. They are so secure in their assumed moral superiority that they aren’t willing to entertain any argument that counters their narrative that Trump is just “the worst person in the world”. We reject this view because the facts simply don’t support it. When you put the (manufactured) hysterical outrage aside and engage with the facts and Trump’s actual record of governance, it becomes clear that his presidency to date has been one of the most successful in recent history and warrants a second term.

This piece isn’t intended as a defence of Trump’s sins such as his multiple bankruptcies, failed product lines, endless lawsuits, creepy sexual scandals, loud public spats, or crude language. It defends the fact that there is a major difference between the sins committed while Trump was a self-declared wheeling and dealing multi-billionaire in private enterprise, and the sins committed while holding office, or rather the lack thereof.

The fact is that Trump hasn’t abused the American people’s trust by acting unethically while in office. The same can’t be said for one Joe Biden, who has been using his political influence to enrich his family for many years, and who is facing very credible and serious accusations relating to his term as vice-president, and his son’s dodgy dealings with Ukrainian and Chinese entities.

For those of you who have reservations when it comes to Trump’s character, let’s be quite clear that there are good reasons for having such reservations, as the list of sins above refers. But, let’s be equally clear that it’s the actual record of governance that’s important. You don’t have to like Trump’s character or his Twitter account to vote for him.

You don’t have to approve of the sometimes crazy things that he says or the way he often acts. But to quote conservative commentator Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wirespeaking to an American audience, “If you care about the Constitution, economic freedom, and the security of the United States, you really don’t have a whole hell of a lot of choice, and should probably vote for Trump.” This isn’t an emotive argument, it’s grounded in facts and policy. And, of course, the same critical lens should be applied to Biden and his 47-year record of governance.

When it comes to defending traditional liberal and also conservative values (and there is less tension in that statement than you might think), sane economic policies, measured foreign policy, and also the dangers of unfettered and unregulated big tech (think the Googles and Facebooks of the world), then the current incarnation of the Democratic Party offers us very little besides Bernie Sanders-style leftist slogans, and the uncritical support of political organisations like Black Lives Matter.

One must also understand that this election isn’t just Republicans versus Democrats. It’s not just Trump versus Biden. It’s now increasingly clear that it’s the Republicans versus the Democrats plus mainstream media and big tech. This is incredibly significant, and I dare say many readers of this publication find themselves consuming a majority of their news and analysis from the aforementioned “mainstream” outlets which profess to be objective when they are deeply partisan.

To make this real, why are the mainstream outlets desperately refusing to entertain and address the very real spectre of corruption on the part of the Bidens – and while Biden was vice-president no less? Why are these same outlets so quick to jump on any allegation about Trump no matter how flimsy and manufactured (think back to the Steele Dossier)? Say what you like about Fox News, but at least it admits to being partisan, right leaning, and pro Trump. It doesn’t pretend to be non-partisan.

But let’s move on from the political machinations, the propaganda, and the deranged claims that “Trump is a white supremacist and literally Hitler”. There isn’t one shred of substantive evidence for any of this. It’s really not so different from the type of name-calling and smears that Israel is so often subject to.

As Shapiro highlights in a recent video on why he’s now voting for Trump whereas he didn’t in 2016, Trump’s record has been quite remarkable, and remarkably conservative. Over the past four years, there have been cuts to regulation and a reduction in man-hours dedicated to dealing with regulation. There was also the appointment of originalist judges, tax cuts, and historically low unemployment rates. Then there was the dropping of the compromised and questionable Paris Accord (please understand the document before assuming it solves climate change) and dropping out of the disastrous Iran deal. Add to that, crushing ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) and killing Qasem Soleimani and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi; and being the first president in most of our lifetimes not to start any new wars.

This last point is a big deal. So much so, that Trump has actually been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for ending America’s doctrine of endless wars. America’s 18-year-long war in Afghanistan is finally at an end. Obama could have done this, but he didn’t. Trump did, and it’s quite telling that something so significant hasn’t been reported by the CNNs of the world.

What’s also of huge importance to Jewish communities the world over is that Trump successfully moved the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and has brokered the first meaningful peace deals in the Middle East in more than three decades. Just last week, a truly historic peace deal between Israel and Sudan took shape. Sudan is a country which has technically been at war with Israel since 1948.

Trump has also resisted using the federal government to control everybody’s life during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is also a really big deal because history teaches us that governments are generally not in the habit of giving up the emergency powers they grab during times of crises. Look no further than our current South African context and the worrying extension of our state of disaster, effectively allowing our government to operate with very little parliamentary oversight.

Trump has also restored due process on college campuses by undoing Obama’s incredibly problematic Title IX executive action. Contrary to what the mainstream media would have you believe, Trump hasn’t actually threatened democratic institutions, he hasn’t threatened freedom of the press, and he hasn’t threatened the legislature. Ultimately, he hasn’t used the executive branch in nearly as powerful a way as Obama did. Of course, it must be acknowledged that if you’re not an advocate of small government (we’re looking at you Bernie), then you wouldn’t view this positively. But for the rest of us who want the government to interfere as little as possible in our lives, this is hugely positive.

In conclusion, we believe this election is going to be a damning referendum on progressive politics and the power that the mainstream media, out-of-touch Hollywood elites, and the dangerously partisan and political tech giants, currently wield over society. As strange as it may seem, Trump is the one willing to take a stand and challenge those that would control and influence society with their own political orthodoxy. This plus a pretty stellar record of governance is all the reason we need to be team Trump.

• Adam Sachs has an honours in philosophy and also majored in politics and English. He is a specialist in Digital and Agile Transformation, currently working with the Nedbank Group.
• Daniel Fisher is currently the Head of Legal Operations at Over by GoDaddy.