Publisher's Note: One of the most significant things you can do to promote Liberty is to support our mission. Please make your gift to the 2024 Year-End Campaign today. Thank you! —Mark Alexander, Publisher

August 28, 2015

Trump Is All Talk

Donald Trump is the first talk radio candidate. Everything he says on the primary trail sounds just like what you can hear on conservative talk radio every day. When he’s riffing about the failures of the political class in Washington, calling for an end to birthright citizenship or handling a media heckler like Jorge Ramos at a press conference, Trump is talking straight to the hearts and minds of the talk radio demographic. He’s not much of a conservative, or much of a Republican, for that matter.

Donald Trump is the first talk radio candidate.

Everything he says on the primary trail sounds just like what you can hear on conservative talk radio every day.

When he’s riffing about the failures of the political class in Washington, calling for an end to birthright citizenship or handling a media heckler like Jorge Ramos at a press conference, Trump is talking straight to the hearts and minds of the talk radio demographic.

He’s not much of a conservative, or much of a Republican, for that matter.

But as Trump forces many of the other timid GOP candidates to address subjects they’re otherwise too scared to address, he’s echoing what millions of conservative talk-show listeners have been yelling about for decades.

I know. I used to be one of those talk show guys. I’ve heard what the silent majority yells and bitches at their radios about.

Trump is an entertaining showman. Though he’d hate to admit it, he’s also a natural-born politician.

He might not be likable. But he knows how to relate to and communicate with his constituents. All he needs are catchy slogans, half-finished sentences, quips and shrugs.

The Donald is authentic all right — to a fault. But because he’s immune to criticism from the media or other politicians, as a candidate he has it easy.

Like any conservative talk-show host, he can say any wild-and-crazy thing about immigration or the Iran nuclear deal he likes without paying a political penalty or having to explain his sketchy policy ideas.

For example, he can promise us over and over that the first thing he’ll do as President Trump is build a 1,900-mile wall to stop the illegals coming in from Mexico.

But the wall is the simple part. Every conservative talk radio guy in North American has been calling for a strong southern border wall for years.

But what would President Trump do about the 12 million illegal immigrants already living in the U.S.? And what about the millions of illegals who didn’t wade across the Rio Grande to get here?

Studies say as many as 50 percent of them came here legally but then overstayed their tourist or student visas and never left. More than 10 percent came from Asia.

That “Great Trump Wall” he’ll build on the Mexican border won’t stop those kinds of “unauthorized” guests, no matter how tall it is.

It’d be nice if Trump — or any of the genuine conservative Republican candidates — had a few smart ideas about fixing our horrible legal immigration system.

With its long wait times, Soviet-style paperwork, high legal costs and politicized selection process, it’s the epitome of a Big Government bureaucracy.

Last I heard, conservatives were supposed to be against such things.

Meanwhile, a one-man party like Trump will not be able to fix immigration, legal or illegal.

It’s going to take a “boring” career politician like John Kasich, Rick Perry, Chris Christie or Jeb Bush to accomplish that and everything else Trump is talking about doing in Washington to “make America great again.”

As Republican governors, Perry, Kasich, Christie and Bush have proven track records. Perry and Kasich have done all the right conservative things in Texas and Ohio.

They’ve cut taxes, cut back government and created new jobs by encouraging economic growth. Poor Perry did all three, plus he dealt with the border and hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.

Trump has many accomplishments. He’s a fabulous negotiator and builder. He’s also stirring up Republican primary politics-as-usual in a beneficial way.

It’s really great that he’s not afraid to say what a lot of conservatives in the country want to hear him say.

But as any talk radio guy can tell you, saying something and getting something done are two different things.

What Perry and the other governors actually have accomplished in their states is what Trump can only espouse and promise if, by some miracle, he gets to Washington.

Copyright ©2015 Michael Reagan

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.