The Patriot Post® · How Mia Love Is Both Right and Wrong About Trump

Outgoing Republican Rep. Mia Love of Utah took a few shots at President Donald Trump after her surprising loss in November. In a sense, this tiff outlines the mutual distrust that led to a split between the suburban/establishment wing of the GOP and the MAGA wing. That split was a major reason why the GOP suffered big losses in the House in the 2018 midterms.

In some ways, Mia Love represents the type of person who normally could vote GOP but dislikes Trump. She’s based in the suburbs and has kids. She didn’t vote for Trump in 2016, but when it came to conservative agenda items, she has been solid — pro-Second Amendment, pro-life, and supportive of lower taxes and less government regulation. Love even had been described as a “Tea Party” Republican.

So what’s the big deal? Well, as we’ve noted, Trump’s personal life has been colorful, and he’s not an ideal role model for kids. Love is right that Trump’s character issues exist, and they are troubling. She’s correct that at times his pugnacious responses to critics can cross the line. And his slam on her the day after the election, before it was even clear she had lost her seat, wasn’t exactly team spirit.

That said, Love has missed the boat as well. In 2016, the choice was between Trump, who would at least be friendly to conservatives on policy grounds, and Hillary Clinton, who had even more numerous character issues of her own and who posed a very serious threat to Liberty. How serious? Think this example over — the Supreme Court upheld the rights of pro-life pregnancy centers by a 5-4 margin. Had Hillary won, California would have succeeded in turning pro-life centers into sock puppets for Planned Parenthood. That list of 5-4 Court decisions could and will go on.

Furthermore, we would have seen an army of Lois Lerners unleashed — imagine the infamous “John Doe” investigations in Wisconsin but on a nationwide scale. In some ways, given what we have seen from bureaucrats, we are still experiencing a form of that already, albeit this time in the form of the #resistance. If the Peter Strzok/Lisa Page texts didn’t reveal that bias, then James Comey’s recent interview comments should leave no doubts.

The fact is, Mia Love, while she was very good on policy, was dead wrong about the political terrain that defenders of American Liberty are in. Developing an effective response, which is essential in restoring confidence in the fairness and impartiality of government agencies, is one of two major tasks that House Republicans will be dealing with in the coming years. How they address this could determine the future of Liberty.