Crowning Trump king

My view of Trump is about the same as my view of him in 2016.

In the Republican presidential primary, Trump is not my first, or second, or third choice. I’d prefer Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Mike Pence… Of course, I agreed with most of Trump’s policies, no so much his attitude and character.

Part of my fear is that Trump may win the primary, but lose the general election (because of all his baggage…). For a Republican to win, they need not only the Republican votes, but also votes of Independents and Democrats.

“If evangelical Christians vote in large numbers for Trump next year, as they did in the last two elections, Trump will still likely lose again and doom Republican goals for years to come.” -Cal Thomas

So, I don’t plan to vote for Trump in the 2024 primary.

But if Trump wins the Republican primary, I’ll vote for him in the general election. He would be better for the country than what the liberal Democrats have to offer.

David R. Brumbelow

I'm mostly with David, and would further point out that nobody smells like a rose lately--e.g. Biden huge grift, Hilliary grift/classified docs, etc..--but on the flip side, I'd have hoped that Trump would have grown in the office to be able to let little things slide, support his subordinates, and the like.

Unfortunately, the opposite happened, and he's become even more toxic than he was in 2016 or 2020. Praying that DeSantis or someone manages to take him out.

I always wondered how the antichrist would amass all of his followers. Trump shows us how easy it is to do so, regardless of his moral / spiritual bankruptcy, even among professing Christians.

Why are Christians so gullible?

I do not understand why Cal Thomas equates supporting Trump with "crowning him king." I will without hesitation vote for Trump in the general election, if it comes to that. I'd echo David B's preferences for the primary - except: We need someone who will clean house. The Bidens and a lot of people in Washington are incredibly corrupt.

I’ve heard all the arguments about double standards when it came to how evangelicals viewed Bill Clinton and his affairs and that Trump is a fighter (even that God uses bad people to accomplish His will). Character counted with Clinton, they said. Not so with Trump."

I'm sorry, but NO. I do not oppose Hillary or Bill because of character. I oppose them because what they expressly want to do as government leaders is EVIL governing. Yes, murdering people, visiting Epstein's island many times and having an affair with an underage secretary are terrible character. But those are not why I oppose them.

Am I hoping Trump gets in? I don't know - but it needs to be someone who will actually clear house - although I'm not sure that's possible at this point.

I think Thomas is seeing something I see as well--support for Trump that doesn't really think through the issues. It's almost as if "wow, he's a billionaire, he must have a lot to say for us."

Regarding personal character vs. political deeds, the point is well taken, but it strikes me that a key issue in DC is that we've been tolerating people of bad character for a long time because "we thought they were doing a great job in their position." Time and time again, though, what I'm seeing is places where hundreds of people must have known about problems, but nobody speaks up until a lot of damage is done, if ever.

I might joke that in the private sector, I'd likely be fired for knowingly dropping the ball like this. It seems like in government, you get promoted instead. How to fix it? It seems as if someone needs to figure out how to get those inspectors general some teeth, and reduce job protections for government workers. I think it's going to take concerted action between Congress and the President.

Dan Miller wrote: I do not understand why Cal Thomas equates supporting Trump with "crowning him king." I will without hesitation vote for Trump in the general election, if it comes to that. I'd echo David B's preferences for the primary - except: We need someone who will clean house. The Bidens and a lot of people in Washington are incredibly corrupt.

Look, Trump has proven himself willing to subvert the law and the democratic process to get what he wants. What does he want? A moral Christian nation? No. He wants whatever glorifies Trump.

How a Christian can still vote for Trump with a good conscience is beyond me. He's already proven he cares little for the truth, the law, and democracy.

You want to get rid of corruption? Here's how... 1) Don't vote for Trump 2) Insist that lawmakers implement term limits for the house and senate.

THoward, I agree. Trump seeks one thing and one thing only. The worship of himself above all else. He says what evangelicals want to here, because he wants their vote. He will enact policies for them, not because he agrees with them, but because their vote furthers his worship. He stands in front of a church and waves a Bible he has never read, just so he can get a photo op that puts him in favor of the evangelical right. He cares nothing for God, nor does He fear God. I agree with the other poster. The vast majority of the people in the church talk about how we must resist the AntiChrist, but today we can clear see the Church has no discernment and will be fooled just as they are today.

I voted 3rd party the last two quadrennials. I cannot vote for Trump!

[sarcasm]A political who is self-serving? I'm shocked.[/end sarcasm]

Yeah. I get that. But as you say, self-serving, willing to subvert the law and the democratic process, is that really true? (I don't think so) Is it unique? (Absolutely not.) Yes, Trump said the last election was cheated. He's absolutely right.

Even if you don't count all the impossible to verify problems with the voting, just the deliberate systematic lying about Hunter's laptop is enough to say the election was poisoned by interference. If you don't agree with that, then there's not much more to say here.

Name an issue and Trump was a better president that Biden. If you threw your vote away or if you promoted Biden last election, you should reckon yourself as unfit to consider politics.

"Yeah. I get that. But as you say, self-serving, willing to subvert the law and the democratic process, is that really true? (I don't think so) Is it unique? (Absolutely not.) Yes, Trump said the last election was cheated. He's absolutely right."

Willing to subvert the law and democratic process? Yes. Calling on people to find and change votes in his favor. Having supporters setup gallows on the front lawn of the Capital for his own Vice President to be hung. Whether he actively supported them or not, he is ready to pardon all of them.

He just jumps from conspiracy theory to conspiracy theory. He is so focused on some kind of Biden Conspiracy with Ukraine and Hunter's laptop. Despite the fact that his own Justice department couldn't find any evidence. Focused on a lost election because of active fraud, that somehow 30,000 local election officials conspired to overturn the election and his own Justice Department, legal team, investigators could not find a single bit of evidence for it.

Trump is a narcissist idiot. Biden is not any better of a candidate, but at least he won't erect gallows on the front lawn of the Capital to hang lawmakers who won't buy into his conspiracy theories.

If you threw your vote away or if you promoted Biden last election, you should reckon yourself as unfit to consider politics.

Nonsense. This attitude stifles conversation and demonizes the other side rather than working to understand even if you disagree. There are plenty of valid viewpoints that could lead a person to vote for Biden or "throw their vote away".

Are there really plenty of valid viewpoints that could lead a person to vote for Biden? Would you please list some of them?

G. N. Barkman wrote:

Are there really plenty of valid viewpoints that could lead a person to vote for Biden? Would you please list some of them?

Sure, here are several areas where I'd favor Biden over Trump.

• Gun control: We need some reasonable measures of gun control. I understand that the solution to the mass shooting problem we have in the U.S. will require more than just gun control, but I do believe gun control is a part of the answer.
• Police reform: We have a huge problem with police brutality, sometimes racially motivated, sometimes not. There are a number of ideas out there to deal with this problem including defunding the police (an idea I don't support). But the status quo is not acceptable.
• Immigration policies: We can both build a wall/protect our borders and make immigration more accessible at the same time. We have a large country and many resources, and I'd like to see them be made more accessible to immigrants, not less.
• Character: I'm not by any stretch in love with Biden and don't think he's a good president, but it's my opinion that he is a far better person than Trump.

These are just a few areas that could lead me to vote for Biden over Trump. I'm quite sure that you will disagree with each one, but that doesn't make my viewpoints any less valid. Neither would my disagreeing with your viewpoints cause yours to be less valid. You could say your viewpoints agree with Scripture and are therefore valid while mine are not. But then I would also say my viewpoints agree with Scripture and are therefore valid. There are some viewpoints that are invalid because they are based on falsehoods, but even then conversation is better than ridicule. I think we'd be far better served as a nation if both sides would try to interact with each other and find areas common ground or at least understanding, rather than demonizing the other side and declaring them "unfit to consider politics".

It's not that I completely reject all your reasons, but I cannot understand the logic that concludes it is better to vote for Biden than Trump because of any or all of the issues you named. The harm done by the growth of government, assault upon public morality, selection of progressive judges, etc., with any Democrat in the White House is too serious to allow me to vote for Biden. As a Christian, I believed I am compelled to vote in whatever manner is most likely to keep anti-Christian goals out of office.

One of the most galling things to gun rights advocates is how seldom federal, state, and local authorities actually prosecute things like straw buyers, unlawful possession of a firearm, and the like. Another highly galling thing is how most gun crime is done with handguns, but the left wants to ban semi-auto rifles instead. It is as if we had a huge vehicle problem with pickups, and to address the problem, we decided to ban compact convertibles. "Look what that guy did with his jacked up F350!!! Now hand over your Miata!!!"

More or less, the "reasonable gun control" favored by Democrats seems to penalize the law-abiding while leaving key crime demographics unaffected. Makes you wonder what the reason for their proposals might be.

Regarding immigration policy, the Democrats/progressives can't even agree that the country has enough criminals already, and hence immigrants who commit felonies ought to be deported. Just insane.