Trump channels Rocky Balboa, the every-man boxer, by going the distance with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, cancelling her plans to use military aircraft for a planned overseas public relations delegation. Trump’s Southpaw move set Washington and the political establishment abuzz. Sen. Lindsay Graham, the liberal mainstream media and others are hitting out and melting down, calling his decision sophomoric, but it’s actually kind of brilliant.
Trump’s latest jab at the liberal establishment’s leadership is a classic Trump move, and it has been great fun to watch. It’s always illuminating when the left is taken by surprise by Trump. After three long years of non-stop Trump coverage, Pelosi, Schumer and the talking heads at CNN still can’t figure out how he operates. Perhaps they should spend their weekend watching a few Rocky movies.
Republicans have, for the most part, played by the rules, protecting decorum, tradition and respect for office, even when it was undeserved, which I reported on in my article The Problem with Trump’s Base Is They Think the Spoon Is Real. They have shied away from getting dirty in the mud with the vocal, nasty and deceptive crowd of Washington progressives decade after decade and allowed them to run rough shod over the right. Trump has no such reservations. He knows exactly how the swamp operates, and he’s never backed down from rolling up his sleeves and engaging in a brawl. In fact, his very outsider status lends creed to his need to fight.
Trump’s decision to ground Pelosi and company may not be “presidential,” whatever that may mean, but it will be effective. It’s a clear signal that Trump has dug in on his position that the Democrats must come to the table to negotiate border security, and he will not spare them any public embarrassment to achieve his goal. Pelosi’s biggest mistake besides her refusal to negotiate over wall funding was poking the bear with her own sophomoric and threatening letter to Trump regarding the State of the Union Address.
Pelosi has met her match in Trump, and she’s been taken to the mat several times this week. The optics of her and the Democrats not being in Washington, D.C. ready to tackle the government shutdown impasse hasn’t done her or her party any favors, as was her refusal to even speak to the Angel Moms and listen to their concerns over illegal immigrant crime or her untrue security concerns in her letter advocating for postponing the State of the Union Address. Homeland Security Chief Nielsen debunked this rhetoric in a tweet, saying, “The Department of Homeland Security and the US Secret Service are fully prepared to support and secure the State of the Union.”
Trump’s a natural born fighter who doesn’t hide behind faux decorum and political correctness, and it is this reason alone that the average American elected him. However, Americans on both sides of the aisle are consistent in their support for building a strong border wall and increasing border security. An ABC/Washinton Post poll showed that even among swing voters, support for a wall is high. Pelosi’s “immoral wall” has proven nonsensical and a nonstarter. Sovereignty cannot be preserved without controlling the border or fixing a clearly broken immigration system.
President Trump has proven that he can fight with the gloves on or off, but either way, he aims to stand up to the the playground bullies. President Trump has the authority to declare a National Emergency to build the wall, but has shown unusual restraint by giving the House Speaker opportunity after opportunity to come to the negotiating table. In the meantime, the American people have ring-side seats to see who will take away the championship belt and, outside of the elite establishment, it appears that Americans are rooting for Trump. #Reign well