Trump and the Republican Party
During the 2016 presidential candidate campaigns, Jeb Bush stated, “Mr. Trump doesn’t have a proven conservative record. He was a Democrat longer in the last decade than he was a Republican.”1 This wasn’t the first time Trump has been accused of not being a true Republican and it surely wasn’t the last. Even now during his presidency, it has been debated whether Donald Trump is actually Republican. Looking back, Trump’s support for the Republican Party has wavered. In fact, his political opinions appear to have wavered so much that since 1987, his party affiliation has changed five times. In 1987, Trump registered as a Republican. Then in 1999, he changed his party to the Independence Party of New York. From 2001 to 2009 he was registered as a Democrat, until he came back to the Republican Party. In a 2004 interview on CNN, Trump stated:
In many cases, I probably identify more as Democrat. It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans. Now, it shouldn’t be that way. But if you go back, I mean it just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats . . . But certainly we had some very good economies under Democrats, as well as Republicans. But we’ve had some pretty bad disasters under the Republicans.2
However, in 2011, he switched to having no party affiliation. Then in 2012, he once again registered as a Republican.
In addition to his party affiliation, it is important to analyze his political donations. While two-thirds of the roughly $1.4 million he has donated to national-level parties, candidates, and other committees since 1989 have gone to Republicans, it is important to note that 40% of those donations were made after 2010.3 In 2014 alone Trump donated to thirty-four Republican politicians. In fact, from 2010 to 2015, 97% of his political donations went to Republicans. However, prior to 2010, more than half of his political donations went to Democrats.4
Even when he first began considering running for political office, Trump didn’t believe he would run as a Republican. In an interview with Playboy in 1990, he stated, “Well, if I ever ran for office, I’d do better as a Democrat than as a Republican. And that’s not because I’d be more liberal, because I’m conservative. But the working guy would elect me. He likes me.” In fact, the first time Trump launched a presidential campaign it wasn’t with the Republican Party. In 2000, Trump aspired to be the presidential candidate for the Reform Party, which was created by Texas billionaire and 1992 presidential candidate Ross Perot in 1995. According to the Reform Party’s website, the party is “a moderate, centrist and populist party that sits in the center of the political spectrum. It has moderate fiscal and economic platforms mixed with strong calls for ethics and electoral reform based on populist beliefs.”5 In his 2000 campaign, Trump focused on issues such as fair trade, eliminating the national debt, and creating universal healthcare. He outlined these issues in his book (coauthored by Dave Shiflett), The America We Deserve, which was published in 2000. He wrote:
My star, however, seemed to be rising. In early October I announced the formation of a committee to explore a run for the presidency. At that time I announced that my first choice for vice president would be Oprah Winfrey. Again the political elites chortled—Oprah Winfrey! They just don’t understand how many Americans respect and admire Oprah for her intelligence and caring. She has provided inspiration for millions of women to improve their lives, go back to school, learn to read, and take responsibility for themselves. If I can’t get Oprah, I’d like someone like her.6
Other individuals Trump discussed as being interested in recruiting for his potential administration was General Electric chairman and CEO Jack Welch, Muhammad Ali, Teamsters chief James P. Hoffa, New Jersey senator Bob Torricelli, and Florida governor Jeb Bush.
Trump’s bid to be a presidential candidate in 2000 drew interesting responses, including a Washington Post article by Al Kamen from January of that year, saying, “President Donald Trump? Most Beltway insiders—and many others—dismiss the notion as absurd, figuring only a national nervous breakdown, or worse, could put the real estate developer and noted egomaniac in the White House.”7 However, Trump eventually withdrew from the race on February 14, 2000, stating that the Reform Party was not “conducive to victory” and that he would not be able to win the election as the party’s candidate.8
Republican Party During the Election
Trump first announced that he would be officially running to be the Republican nominee for the 2016 presidential election on June 16, 2015, during a rally at Trump Tower in New York City. During his announcement speech, he covered a variety of topics including Islamic terrorism, healthcare, foreign relations, and illegal immigration. Trump’s speech, which introduced his slogan “Make American Great Again,” was a launching point for a lot of his rhetoric, as seen in the following statements:
I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created. I tell you that. I’ll bring back our jobs from China, from Mexico, from Japan, from so many places. I’ll bring back our jobs, and I’ll bring back our money.
I would build a great wall. And nobody builds walls better than me, believe me. And I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great great wall on our southern border and I’ll have Mexico pay for that wall.
When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they’re killing us economically. . . . When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.9
While initial polls, prior to him officially joining the race in 2015, showed Trump as being heavily disliked by Republican voters, his announcement speech was a major boost. Trump went from being accused of paying a company to hire actors to attend his announcement rally to leading in the polls among his fellow GOP primary contenders following this speech.
Since Donald Trump made that initial announcement, Republicans have had mixed opinions about the then candidate and now president. In fact, some of his campaign promises conflicted with the ideology of the Republican Party. For instance, his New Deal–style proposal to create jobs by building infrastructure, which conflicts with the Republican Party’s small-government beliefs. In an interview with New York Times following the election, Trump stated, “That’s not a very Republican thing—I didn’t even know that, frankly.”10
Numerous Republicans did not support Trump, at least not until he became the Republican nominee or even until he became president. Republican strategist and top aide for Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign Katie Packer even started a super PAC in January 2016 called Our Principles PAC. The goal of said PAC was to oppose Donald Trump’s bid to be the Republican nominee. In March 2016, the PAC sent out mailers attacking Trump in Iowa ahead of the Iowa caucuses. The PAC also released a video of women reciting some of Trump’s most sexist statements.
Donald Trump and Other Republican Politicians
Just as Trump’s support from Republican Party members has been shaky since he first announced that he was running for president, so has his support from other Republican politicians. Trump’s relationship with fellow Republicans can be viewed in three main categories: those who have shown him continual support since first announcing his presidency; those who didn’t initially support him but flipped their opinion either after he became the nominee or after he became president; and those Republicans who have never supported him.
Continual Support
A number of Republican politicians, including Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee, have heavily supported Donald Trump from the very beginning. One of the first establishment Republicans to endorse Trump during his campaign was Gingrich. He had been considered a strong contender for Trump’s vice presidential running mate. Huckabee has even defended Trump before the Republican Party, comparing Trump to Winston Churchill. In a tweet from 2017, after viewing Darkest Hour, a film about Churchill at war, Huckabee tweeted, “Churchill was hated by his own party, opposition party, and press. Feared by King as reckless, and despised for his bluntness. But unlike Neville Chamberlain, he didn’t retreat. We had a Chamberlain for 8 yrs; in @realDonaldTrump we have a Churchill.”11
Huckabee has continued not only to be a major supporter of Trump, but his defender and champion. At the end of 2018, as Trump continued to come under criticism for his high turnover rate in the White House, Huckabee stated that while the staff turnover rate was “a little higher than normal” it was because of Trump’s “vigor of somebody who’s about thirty-two years old.”12 Huckabee went on to state on the Fox Business Network’s Mornings with Maria, “This is a tough president to work for, and not because he’s a difficult person individually, but he is very demanding and very few people can keep up with him.” Huckabee has consistently defended Trump and his administration, specifically his own daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who serves as Trump’s press secretary. In August 2018, Huckabee tweeted, “I know I’m objective about @PressSec as @NYTimes new hateful, racist hire Sarah Jeong is about white people, but I still think @PressSec is the WINDSHIELD and little Jim Acosta is the BUG.”13 This was an attack on CNN reporter Jim Acosta who had heavily questioned Sanders during a press conference on whether she considered the media to be “the enemy of the people.” Sarah Sanders began as Trump’s senior adviser for his 2016 presidential campaign, where she worked on the communications staff, specifically communications for coalitions. Following Trump’s election, Sanders was appointed to the position of deputy White House press secretary. She served in this position until Sean Spicer resigned on July 21, 2017, at which point she assumed the role of White House press secretary.
As White House press secretary, Sanders has come under a great deal of controversy. With the release of the Mueller Report on April 18, 2019, Sanders came under fire for delivering a false statement regarding President Trump’s decision to fire FBI director James B. Comey, whereby she repeatedly said in 2017 that she had communicated with “countless” FBI officials who were happy with Trump’s decision. She has since said that was a “slip of the tongue” and not based on any facts. On Good Morning America a day after a release of the report, Sanders explained the statement was made in the heat of the moment and was not “a scripted talking point.” She went on to say, “I’m sorry that I wasn’t a robot like the Democrat Party that went out for two and a half years and repeated time and time again that there was definitely Russian collusion between the president and his campaign.”14
Flipped
There are numerous Republican politicians who didn’t at first support Trump, but eventually became supporters, whether after he became the Republican nominee or president. This includes former vice president Dick Cheney, who in February 2016 said that Trump sounded like a “liberal Democrat” and voiced his disagreement over comments made by Trump regarding 9/11. However, by May of that year, Cheney went on to state that he would back Trump as the nominee.15 Former governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, a fellow Republican nominee during the 2015 race, during his own campaign called Trump a “narcissist” and an “egomaniacal madman.” After dropping out of the race in November 2015, Jindal supported Marco Rubio to be the Republican nominee, until Rubio also dropped out in March 2016. In May 2016, Jindal, in a column in the Wall Street Journal, stated that he would be voting for Trump “warts and all.”16
One of the most notable politicians who eventually became a major Trump supporter is Lindsey Graham. In 2016, Graham called Trump “a kook” who was “unfit for office,” however, by 2017 he would attack others for making similar claims. Graham himself noted his initial dislike of Trump during the February 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), stating, “So President Trump and I did not start off well. I remember being there the night he got elected and he said, ‘Hey, Lindsey, I don’t have your phone number,’ and I said, ‘There’s a reason for that.’”17 Once one of Trump’s biggest GOP opponents, Graham is now one of his biggest supporters, going on at the conference to state, “I couldn’t be more proud of the fact that he talks to me and asks my opinion. And we’ve got a lot in common now: I like him and he likes him.”18 As discussed by Mark Leibovich in his New York Times feature on Lindsey Graham:
It can be jarring to watch Graham enact, in real time, the broader shift the Republican Party has undergone under Trump. The conversions tend to fall into a few basic categories. There are the elected Republicans who once had little use for Trump but would prefer to keep their heads down and hope that their Trump-loving constituents forget the terrible things they said about the future president during the 2016 campaign. There are the most powerful Republicans, like Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, and until early 2019 Paul Ryan, the former speaker of the House, who might have had little use for the president in private but couldn’t risk alienating him. And there are once-dubious Republicans who have not only come around to supporting Trump but who have also caked their about-faces in ostentatious heaps of flattery for “my president.”
And then there is Graham, who would seem to occupy his own distinct category of Trump-era contortionist. . . . Graham’s rush to Trump’s side is particularly baffling because not long ago he was best known for his bipartisan deal-making on issues like climate change and immigration. He subscribed, at least theoretically, to the country-over-party credo of his departed Senate co-conspirator John McCain. McCain’s diagnosis of brain cancer and eventual death coincided approximately with Graham’s emergence as Trump’s most prominent Senate defender and whisperer.19
While it may be difficult to determine why various politicians flipped, and whether or not they are truly his supporters, many most likely flipped for political reasons. Whether to stay on Trump’s good side and reap the rewards of his presidential power or to appease their own political bases, which were in many cases largely made up of Trump supporters.
Opposed to Trump
It is important to note that there are several Republican politicians who were not and have continued not to be supporters of Donald Trump. This includes U.S. senator, former governor, and presidential candidate, Mitt Romney. In May 2016, Romney told the Wall Street Journal:
I wanted my grandkids to see that I simply couldn’t ignore what Mr. Trump was saying and doing, which revealed a character and temperament unfit for the leader of the free world. I know that some people are offended that someone who lost and is the former nominee continues to speak, but that’s how I can sleep at night.20
While Romney has continued to be a critic of Donald Trump, he also wrote in an op-ed in the Salt Lake Tribune in June 2018, “I will support the president’s policies when I believe they are in the best interest of Utah and the nation.” He goes on to discuss the Trump policies he has agreed with, including the keeping “corporate tax code globally competitive,” reducing “unnecessary regulations,” and restoring “multiple use on Utah public land.” Romney goes on to write:
I have and will continue to speak out when the president says or does something which is divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions . . . I believe that when you are known as a member of a “team,” and the captain says or does something you feel is morally wrong, if you stay silent you tacitly assent to the captain’s posture.21
Then in a Washington Post op-ed from January 1, 2019, Romney wrote:
It is well known that Donald Trump was not my first choice . . . After he became the nominee, I hoped his campaign would refrain from resentment and name-calling. It did not. When he won the election, I hoped he would rise to the occasion . . . But, on balance, his conduct over the past two years, particularly his actions last month, is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office.
Romney went on:
To a great degree, a presidency shapes the public character of the nation. A president should unite us and inspire us to follow “our better angels.” A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect . . . With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring.22
Then, following the release on the Mueller Report, Romney wrote, “It is good news that there was insufficient evidence to charge the President of the United States with having conspired with a foreign adversary or with having obstructed justice. . . . Even so, I am sickened at the extent and pervasiveness of dishonesty and misdirection by individuals in the highest office of the land, including the President.”23 This received backlash from Trump supporter Mike Huckabee, who tweeted, “Know what makes me sick, Mitt? Not how disingenuous you were to take @realDonaldTrump $$ and then 4 yrs later jealously trash him & then love him again when you begged to be Sec of State, but makes me sick that you got GOP nomination and could have been @POTUS.”24
John Warner, the former longtime Republican Virginia senator and former secretary of the navy, endorsed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in the election. Warner’s criticism of Trump focused largely on his unfitness to be commander in chief, stating that he was “distressed” over Trump’s comments on the might of the U.S. military. Warner stated:
We have today the strongest military in the world. No one can compare with us. Does it need to be modified and changed and added to and modernized? You bet it has. But it is not in shambles. It is not the admirals and the generals and the seniors and rubble in the hallways of the Pentagon . . . They’re still as vibrant as the day I left there during the war in Vietnam.25
Warner also criticized Trump’s treatment of the family of Gold Star recipient U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, stating, “No one should have the audacity to stand up and degrade the purple heart, degrade military families, or talk about the military being in a state of disaster. That’s wrong.”26 Warner also criticized Trump for his lack of experience in national security matters, saying, “You do not pull up a quick text like ‘National Security for Dummies.’ You have to build on a foundation of experience for how you will go forward in the leadership of this country.” Warner’s views on Trump have not changed, saying in 2018:
It’s a very serious time for the country. I did not support Trump. I’m deeply troubled by the central issues. So much of my life has been devoted to the intelligence work and national security—and I’m just not comfortable with the way he’s handling these national security issues . . . He has no inner compass at all. He’s put a tremendous divide in this country.27
Warner even supported a number of Democratic candidates during the 2018 midterm elections, stating, “It goes beyond politics now. I’m a Republican, I’ll finish a Republican as I cruise through my 91st year. But you’ve got to put the nation’s interests and the state’s interests ahead of politics.”28
Non-Followers
Republicans who are not supporters of Trump have been commonly referred to as “Never Trump” Republicans or even “anti–Trump” conservatives by the media, as well as the “Stop Trump movement” and “Dump Trump.” The Never Trump movement began as an effort to prevent Trump from becoming the Republican nominee for the 2016 election.29 As discussed earlier in this chapter, Mitt Romney’s former top aide Katie Packer started the Our Principles PAC to oppose Trump’s bid to be the Republican nominee. In an interview from March 2016 with NPR’s Ari Shapiro, Packer stated, “I didn’t really expect Donald Trump to pick up steam. He was somebody that I thought everybody would recognize as kind of a phony and a fraud. And when that didn’t happen, I felt like somebody had to do it. And I got together with some other people that agreed that this guy would be a problem for our party, that we would lose badly in the general election and that he would be terrible for our country.”30 Our Principles was not the only conservative PAC to counter Trump’s bid for the Republican nomination. The Club for Growth’s PAC, the Club for Growth Action, spent millions on anti–Trump ads in 2015 and 2016 in states like Iowa and Florida that stated that he supported liberal policies. In September 2015, Trump threatened to sue the organization when his lawyer Alan Garten sent a letter to the organization’s president David McIntosh, stating, “Your Attack Ad blatantly misrepresents to the public that Mr. Trump ‘supports higher taxes’, nothing could be further from the truth.”31
Following his nomination and eventual presidential victory, just as Republican politicians flipped in their opinion of Trump, so did numerous “Never Trump” Republicans. Specifically, the “Never Trump” Republicans who did not support him because they believed he would never become president and was a disastrous choice for the Republican Party. However, the movement has continued. According to a study published in Research and Politics by Lauren R. Johnson, Deon McCray, and Jordan M. Ragusa, those most likely to be a part of the Never Trump movement were female Republicans and Latter-day Saints (Mormons).32 And while the initial goal of the movement was to oppose Trump becoming the Republican nominee and then preventing him from winning in 2016, the new goal of the movement is to have another Republican nominee for the 2020 election. A number of Republican politicians have already expressed interest in running, including: U.S. senator from Tennessee Bob Corker; governor of Maryland Larry Hogan; and governor of Ohio John Kasich. And former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld established an exploratory committee on February 15, 2019, and submitted for FEC Statement of Candidacy filing on April 15, 2019.
Followers
Donald Trump’s followers, especially those in the Republican Party, need to be examined from different perspectives. While his supporters may have been drawn to him for more than one reason, it is important to note that there are certain aspects of Trump, particularly in his rhetoric and the issues he has chosen to champion, that has drawn in supporters.
Rhetorical Appeal
“MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN”
Trump’s official slogan, “Make America Great Again,” was officially launched during his announcement speech in 2015. However, it was not the first time that Trump used the phrase nor was it the first time the phrase was used by an American politician. During his 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan used the phrase “Let’s make America great again” in reference to the economic issues the United States was facing at that time. Although not an official slogan, the phrase was also used by Bill Clinton during the 1992 presidential campaign and in a 2008 radio ad for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Democratic primary campaign.33 Trump later said he was unaware of Reagan’s use of the phrase. It was first used in reference to Trump in 2011 by Roger Stone, who had worked on Reagan’s 1980 campaign and as a political adviser to Trump. Stone tweeted, “Make America Great Again—TRUMP HUCKABEE 2012 #nomormons.”
Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan has strongly resonated with his followers. The concept of making America great again appeals to individuals who want to return society to an idealized golden age of the past, perhaps a golden age that never actually existed. Whether or not this golden age did indeed exist, Trump’s supporters believe that he will “make America great again.” But what is perhaps most appealing about this rhetoric is how it has been left open to interpretation by his followers, for them to envision when they believe America was “great” and how they believe America can be “great again.” In an interview, Trump explained he believed America was great at the beginning of the 20th century and following World War II, highlighting them as periods of military and industrial expansion. He stated: “If you look back, it really was, there was a period of time when we were developing at the turn of the century which was a pretty wild time for this country and pretty wild in terms of building that machine, that machine was really based on entrepreneurship.”34 However, this is not a strong aspect of the rhetoric he uses for his slogan; the vagueness in which he uses it at his rallies or in speeches allows for his supporters to interpret the message for themselves. For some Americans, it is about American jobs. As described by one Trump supporter, Ryan Moore, in a USA Today opinion piece:
I’m very proud to wear my MAGA hat. All of the official MAGA hats are made in the USA. The hat is a symbol of wanting to put America first and wanting products to be made in America and wanting them to be made by Americans . . . How absurd would it be to put the interests of other nations ahead of our own? The phrase “Make America Great Again” and the MAGA hat have absolutely nothing to do with race or gender. The “Again” does not mean anyone wants to go back to a time before all races and both sexes had full equality. It is simply the fact that there are some things in America’s past that are better than they are now and of course there are other things that are better in present day America.35
Moore also describes feeling targeted for wearing a MAGA hat, writing: “White men are the most hated and discriminated against group of people in the United States now. If you don’t believe that, you simply aren’t paying attention or looking at it objectively.”36 For other supporters it has to do with identifying the United States with Christian values and beliefs. In an opinion piece from Fox News, Trump supporter Kristan Hawkins writes: “The hats are meant to harken Americans back to better days—not the dark days of slavery and segregation, but days when lawmakers actually got along and compromised; when Democrats were actually allowed to be pro-life; when Americans didn’t check their neighbors’ political affiliation on Facebook before deciding if they could be friends.”37 In fact, there is no clear concise view on even what year or decade America was “great.” In a poll conducted by the New York Times, Trump supporters gave a wide range of answers for the time they believed America was “great,” including 1955, 1960, 1970, 1985, and the most popular answer being in 2000. A similar study found that a majority of Republicans believe “life was better for people like them” fifty years ago, especially Trump supporters who believed that life was better in the 1960s.38
“BUILD THE WALL”
While not his main slogan, “Build the Wall” has been a major component of Trump’s rhetoric. And it is not surprising that it has appealed to so many of his supporters. In a study from 2016 on Trump supporters’ views of immigration, the study found that 66% of them viewed immigration as a “very big” problem, as opposed to 17% of Clinton supporters. This percentage was almost identical to the percentage of Trump supporters, 65%, who viewed terrorism as a “very big” problem as opposed to 36% of Clinton supporters. The study also found that 79% of his voters supported building the wall, with only 18% opposing and 88% of Clinton supporters opposing it. However, his supporters appeared to have mixed views of undocumented immigrants, with 35% believing they take jobs away from U.S. citizens; roughly 33% believing they are not as hard-working and are less honest than U.S. citizens; 50% believing they “are more likely than American citizens to commit serious crimes”; and 59% of those who support Trump strongly associating undocumented immigrants with criminal behavior.39 And while “Build the Wall” appeals to economic fears of some Americans, as discussed in Chapter 9, and the anti-immigration and racist views of other Americans, as discussed in Chapter 10, there is another aspect to the appeal of Trump’s rhetoric of “Build the Wall.”
In addition to the views on immigration and economic fears that make Trump’s mantra of “Build the Wall” so appealing is also the allure of Trump’s abrasive personality and rhetoric style, the belief that he is against being politically correct. In the study, “The Immigrant as Bogeyman: Examining Donald Trump and the Right’s Anti-Immigrant, Anti-PC Rhetoric,” by Laura Finley and Luigi Esposito, they:
. . . argue that Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric can be understood as (1) a response against current norms associated with political correctness, which include a heightened sensitivity to racially offensive language, xenophobia, and social injustice, and (2) a rejection of the tendency to subordinate patriotism, U.S. sovereignty, and national interests to a neoliberal political economy that emphasizes “globalism” and prioritizes “free trade” over the interests of working Americans.40
Trump is not the only politician to target political correctness in the United States. It has been a focal point for numerous conservatives, like Dr. Ben Carson, Trump supporter and secretary of Housing and Urban Development, who has referred to political correctness as being a weapon for suppressing free speech and a tool to suppress Americans and enslave them. It is also a focal point for numerous conservative news outlets, like Breitbart. In a report, “Hidden Tribes: A Study of America’s Polarized Landscape,” by Stephen Hawkins, Daniel Yudkin, Míriam Juan-Torres, and Tim Dixon, they found that most Americans have an aversion to PC culture, with roughly 80% of the population believing that “political correctness is a problem in our country.”41 The study also found that age and race were not proper indicators for whether or not an individual supports political correctness, rather that income and education were better indicators. They found that individuals who make less than $50,000 were more likely to dislike political correctness and that those who never attended college were more likely to think that political correctness is becoming a problem. However, the authors stated that the most significant indicator of beliefs on political correctness was what the authors referred to as “political tribe.” The study found that 97% of “devoted conservatives” believe political correctness is a problem, as well as 61% of “traditional liberals.” The group to most likely support political correctness was “progressive activists,” with only 30% seeing it as a problem.42
“DRAIN THE SWAMP”
Another major component of Trump’s rhetoric has been his message that he will “drain the swamp.” During a rally in Wisconsin in October 2016, Trump stated, “It is time to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C. This is why I’m proposing a package of ethics reforms to make our government honest once again.” However, the idea to “drain the swamp,” a phrase also used by Ronald Reagan in 1983, dates back to the early 1900s and early socialist American politicians like Winfield R. Gaylord and Victor L. Berger, who vowed to “drain” the “capitalist swamp.”43
But it was the way in which Trump used this rhetoric of “drain the swamp” that individuals like John Pudner, director of conservative good-government group Take Back Our Republic, say helped Trump win the election. Pudner himself stated that it was this promise that “is a central topic to why President Trump won this election.”44 In fact, Trump’s five-point plan for draining the swamp that he unveiled in October 2016 (most likely to draw attention away from the 2005 Access Hollywood tape that had just been released) received praise from a number of government-reform advocates, including nonpartisan groups that do not endorse candidates. On October 17, 2016, Trump stated, “If we let the Clinton Cartel run this government, history will record that 2017 was the year America lost its independence. We will not let that happen. It is time to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C.” At that point he revealed his five-point plan:
First: I am going to reinstitute a five-year ban on all executive branch officials lobbying the government for five years after they leave government service. I am going to ask Congress to pass this ban into law so that it cannot be lifted by executive order.
Second: I am going to ask Congress to institute its own five-year ban on lobbying by former members of Congress and their staffs.
Third: I am going to expand the definition of lobbyist so we close all the loopholes that former government officials use by labeling themselves consultants and advisers when we all know they are lobbyists.
Fourth: I am going to issue a lifetime ban against senior executive branch officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.
And Fifth: I am going to ask Congress to pass a campaign finance reform that prevents registered foreign lobbyists from raising money in American elections.45
Aaron Scherb, director of legislative affairs for the nonpartisan advocacy group Common Cause, said of this five-point plan, “These are certainly steps in the right direction, and Common Cause certainly agrees with them and would like to see them enacted.”46
This definitely appealed to a specific faction of his followers. In Eric Bolling’s The Swamp: Washington’s Murky Pool of Corruption and Cronyism and How Trump Can Drain It, he states:
However, one of the most important themes President Donald Trump tapped into in his history-making election campaign of 2016, and continued to sound once in office, was the inhabitants of the D.C. Swamp don’t necessarily think in the same nationalist terms that the average American does. It’s not as simple, however, as saying that the D.C. crowd is too left-wing for right-wing citizens. It’s not just a matter of the federal government overseas. Nor an issue of “transnational” corporations caring more about the bottom line than about inhabitants of any one land.
After all, we want the United States to be friendly with other governments if the alternative is war. We want U.S. companies to export goods to other nations. But while the average American still lives his or her life in a single state and may not even own a passport, the elite have become so accustomed to working with, traveling with, communicating with, and, more worryingly, governing with their elite counterparts in other nations, it becomes unclear whether they remain, at heart, Americans first.47
There are other politicians who at the start of Trump’s presidency supported him because they believed that he could potentially “drain the swamp,” including Congressman Ken Buck, who wrote in his book Drain the Swamp: How Washington Corruption is Worse than You Think (with Bill Blankschaen):
President Trump is a brash, frank, and outspoken man. If he insists on transparency from Congress; if he shines a light on how Congress actually does its business; he can send a lot of the swamp creatures skittering away, and he can encourage the American people to pursue the sort of lasting congressional reform that I’ve outlined in this book. In his first days in office President Trump instituted a hiring freeze on civilian federal workers. He noted that many federal workers are overpaid (and have better benefits) compared to workers who do similar work in the private sector. He hinted that he intended to right this injustice to the taxpayers. He made clear his intention to slash unnecessary federal regulation. And he said that he planned to cut the federal budget by more than ten trillion dollars over the next ten years. These are all steps in the right direction. It’s my job—and the job of every conservative in this country—to make sure he follows through.48
While Trump has continued to tout that as president he has drained “the swamp,” a number of reports have shown a conflicting viewpoint, including the high number of former lobbyists he currently has working in the administration.
“NOT A POLITICIAN”
Another component of Trump’s appeal is to anti-politician voters. The fact that Donald Trump was not a politician, or at least hadn’t been up until this point, was very appealing to many of his followers and a fact that he often exploited in his rallies. For example, during a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, in July 2015, Trump told the audience that because he was a businessman and not a politician, he was the only one who could solve the nation’s problems. Trump had realized early on that this could be a major selling point for him. As discussed in his book from 2000, The America We Deserve:
Last May a Washington-based Democratic pollster, Rob Schroth, conducted a nationwide survey of one thousand voters. Schroth’s thesis was that figures from disciplines outside of politics were better known and more trusted than the current crop of politicians seeking the U.S. presidency. Schroth tested athletes, businessmen, newscasters, and entertainers; he tested the popularity of public figures like Clint Eastwood, Michael Jordan, Barbra Streisand, Bill Gates, Katie Couric, Ted Turner, Robert Redford, Barbara Walters, John Elway, and Donald Trump.
It was no surprise to me that 97 percent of the American people knew who I was. It was also no surprise that I was particularly popular with some segments of the American population. Working people, African Americans, Latinos, and people making under $25,000 a year all had a favorable opinion. Rich people did not like me. Rich people who don’t know me never like me. Rich people who know me like me.49
And in fact it was a major selling point. In a series of interviews with Trump supporters from every state titled “Trump Nation,” conducted by the USA Today Network in 2016, a number of his supporters cited that a reason they were voting for him was that he was a businessman and not a politician. Don Knight, a sixty-year-old business man from Alabama, stated, “I’m a businessman, I have been for forty-two years, and I like the idea that he is a businessman, he’s not a politician. I think with him being a businessman and building the empire that he’s built, that I think he could do the same thing for the United States.”50 Meredith Mason, from South Carolina, stated:
He’s not a politician in the strictest sense of the word. He doesn’t owe anybody anything after the election. So I think he’ll have at least a chance to accomplish something, to straighten out the business end of what’s happened with government. I don’t like the fact that he is very verbally disrespectful sometimes, but I think he’s very honest, and it’s not something we see. Usually politicians will tell this group what they want to hear and then they’ll go tell the next group what they want to hear. It’s refreshing to have somebody who actually has an opinion and is not afraid to voice it.51
Don Bates Jr., a forty-six-year-old from Indiana, stated:
Well, number one, I’m a proud Republican, and so I’m going to support the Republican ticket. I like Donald Trump’s business background. I think he brings a fresh perspective to politics that I think a lot of people are hungry for. I think people are tired of career politicians, and I think that’s why Trump is resonating. I think there are a lot of skeletons in the closet. The email scandal really concerns me, but, if it’s not that scandal, it’s a lot of scandals and they never did tell the truth about Benghazi, and so I think there’s a trust factor there that’s seriously lacking. The threat of radical Islamic terrorism is a major threat, and this current administration does not appear to be taking that threat seriously, and so I think we have a national security issue and our next president has to be willing to face that and realize that it’s a serious problem here in the United States. I think a lot of people are energized. When you look on the Republican side, Donald Trump got more votes than any Republican ever in the history of Republican primaries, and so I think there’s going to be a ton of energy. I think there will be on both sides, but I sense a lot of excitement in this race.52
Trump has kept to similar rhetoric, even now as president. In a rally in Tampa in July 2018, he told his followers, “I’m not like other politicians. You see what happened. I’ve kept my promises.”
EVANGELICALS
Evangelicals, specifically white evangelicals, have been a cornerstone of Trump’s base. In a poll from early 2019, it was found that 69% of white evangelicals “approve of how Donald Trump is handling his job as president of the United States,” however, this number is lower than a previously reported 78% approval rate. In John Fea’s Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump, he states:
Too many conservative evangelicals view the past through the lens of nostalgia. Scholar Svetlana Boym describes nostalgia as a “sentiment of loss and displacement” that “inevitably reappears as a defense mechanism in a time of accelerated rhythms of life and historical upheavals.” In this sense, nostalgia is closely related to fear. In times of great social and cultural change, the nostalgic person will turn to a real or an imagined past as an island of safety amid the raging storms of progress. . . . Sometimes evangelicals will seek refuge from change in a Christian past that never existed in the first place . . . Nostalgia is thus a powerful political tool. A politician who claims to have the power to take people back to a time when America was great stands a good chance of winning the votes of fearful men and women.53
As stated by one of Trump’s most prominent evangelical supporters, Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church in Dallas:
I realize it is [politically] incorrect to say this, but it is nevertheless true. America was not founded as a Muslim nation. America was not founded as a Hindu nation. America was not founded as a nation that is neutral toward Christianity. America was founded as a Christian nation, and today we are going to discover that truth from history.
Trump’s popularity with evangelicals, especially evangelical Republicans, is best understood by looking at how he has appealed to the pro-life issue. While Trump once described himself as “very pro-choice,” he has taken a stronger pro-life stance as president. As described by his evangelical, pro-life vice president, Mike Pence: “In one short year, President Donald Trump has made a difference for life.”54 Trump reiterated his pro-life rhetoric during the 2019 State of the Union address, in which he stated: “Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: All children—born and unborn—are made in the holy image of God.”55 It was the first time Trump has made such a comment in a presidential address to Congress, and while the message was not necessarily intended for Congress, it was intended as an appeal to his base, especially before the 2020 election. In April 2019, Trump also chose to show during a White House movie night the pro-life film, Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer. During his past White House movie nights, Trump has chosen to show Finding Dory and The Post.
It is also important in understanding Trump’s follower relationship with evangelicals, to examine Donald Trump’s vice president Mike Pence. As stated by Richard Land, president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary and one of Trump’s faith advisers, “Mike Pence is the 24-karat-gold model of what we want in an evangelical politician. I don’t know anyone who’s more consistent in bringing his evangelical-Christian worldview to public policy.”56
Michael Richard “Mike” Pence: A Mini Political Personality Profile
Mike Pence was born in 1959 in Columbus, Indiana, to an Irish Catholic Democratic family. Mike’s father, Edward Pence, owned a number of gas stations and was a Korean War veteran. Edward was awarded a Bronze Star in 1953, a commendation for which Mike is extremely proud of his father, displaying it, as well as his father’s commendation letter and reception photo, in his office. Mike received his BA in History from Hanover College in 1981 and his JD from Indiana University in 1986. Pence first tried running for Congress in 1988 in Indiana, but lost to the Democratic incumbent Phil Sharp. During Pence’s second attempt against Sharp in 1990, he ran a TV ad with an actor dressed in stereotypical Middle Eastern attire. The actor, who spoke in a fake Middle Eastern accent, thanked Sharp for not helping the United States wean itself off of imported oil. Pence came under heavy criticism for the ad and lost the election once again. However, Pence was able to rejuvenate his political career in 2000, finally making it to the House of Representatives. After a number of years in Congress, Pence began to rise in prominence in the Republican Party, becoming chairman of the Republican Study Committee from 2005 to 2007. Pence ran for governor of Indiana in 2012, assuming office in 2013.
At the start of the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Pence initially endorsed Ted Cruz. Pence was later considered for vice president by Trump, along with a number of other individuals, including Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich, with Trump officially announcing Pence as his running mate in July 2016. At the start Pence was highly supportive of Trump, even of the remarks and policies that Trump came under fire for, including immigration bans and the border wall. However, as the election progressed it appeared to become more and more difficult for Pence to defend Trump. For instance, when Trump’s 2005 conversation with Billy Bush surfaced, Pence publicly stated, “I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them.” However, Pence continued to stand by Trump’s side. It was at this time that the media began speculating whether Pence would drop off the ticket, an accusation Pence stated was false. Pence’s relationship with Trump continues to be a rocky one. While Pence may not agree with all of Trump’s opinions or actions, he is choosing to stay by Trump’s side in order to advance his own position.
Gun Rights
Trump has also strongly appealed to Americans who are pro–gun rights and advocates for the Second Amendment. In his book Crippled America, in the chapter “The Right to Bear Arms,” Trump states, “I own guns. Fortunately, I have never had to use them, but, believe me, I feel a lot safer knowing that they are there. I also have a concealed-carry permit that allows me to carry a concealed weapon.” Trump goes on to state, “I took the time and the effort to get that permit because the constitutional right to defend yourself doesn’t stop at the end of your driveway. That doesn’t apply just to me either. It applies to all our driveways or front doors. That’s why I’m very much in favor of making all concealed-carry permits valid in every state.”57 Then in an interview Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. had with Anthony Licata in Field & Stream in January 2016:
Donald Trump: I do have a gun, and I have a concealed-carry permit, actually, which is a very hard thing to get in New York. And, of course, the problem is once you get to the borderline of New Jersey or anyplace else, you can’t do it, which is ridiculous, because I’m a very big Second Amendment person. But I do have a gun, and my sons are major hunters, and I’m a member of the NRA [National Rifle Association].58
Appealing to gun owners and gun rights advocates was a major issue he focused on during his campaign. During a presidential campaign rally in Nevada, Trump told his supporters: “We love the Second Amendment, folks. Nobody loves it more than us, so just remember that.” The “we” Trump is referring to in this statement are his sons Donald Jr. and Eric. Trump has used not only himself as a symbol of gun rights in the United States, but his sons as pro–gun rights symbols as well. Donald Trump Jr. in particular has had a strong relationship with the pro–gun rights community, including a relationship with the gun silencer manufacturer SilencerCo. In September 2016, he even appeared in a YouTube video for SilencerCo., where he discusses teaching “little kids” how to use guns:
It’s about safety. It’s about hearing protection. It’s a health issue, frankly, uh, for me. Uh, you know? Getting little, you know, little kids into the game? You know, it greatly reduces recoil. I mean, it’s a, it’s a great—it’s just a great instrument. There’s nothing, you know, there’s nothing bad about it at all. It makes—it makes total sense, it’s where we should be going.59
During his interview with SilencerCo CEO Joshua Waldron, Donald Jr. also discusses the importance of the Second Amendment, stating: “This wasn’t an afterthought. It’s a basic right of an American, and we have to defend that.”60 Waldron and his wife are both Trump supporters who donated both to his campaign and to the Trump Victory Fund.
In April 2017, Trump became the first sitting president since Ronald Reagan to address the NRA, where he stated at the gun lobby’s annual meeting, “The eight-year assault on your Second Amendment freedoms has come to a crashing end.” Trump went on to state, “You have a true friend and champion in the White House.” Trump again addressed the NRA’s annual meeting in 2018, where he made the following statements:
These are real patriots, they really are, and they don’t get the kind of adulation. But really, they do and we know that.
Your Second Amendment rights are under siege, but they will never, ever be under siege as long as I’m your president.61
Trump has continued his rhetoric to gun rights advocates that if he was not president, and especially that if he is not reelected in 2020, that their rights would be taken away. He has used this rhetoric not only with the NRA, but at the Conservative Political Action Conference as well, stating in 2018: “I will protect you, because it all has to come through my office, and we hopefully are going to be here for six more years, so you’re in good shape.”62 Then at the NRA convention on April 26, 2019, Trump told the audience:
Our sacred charge is to preserve the freedoms that our ancestors gave their very lives to secure. Because no matter how many centuries go by, how much the world changes, the central drama of human history remains the same. On one side are those who seek power, control and domination. And on the other side are patriots. . . . We will make America stronger, safer and greater than ever, ever, ever before.
Trump had also told the audience that he plans to have the United States back out of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty. The treaty, which had been signed by Obama but never ratified by Congress, is meant to regulate international conventional weapons sales in an effort to prevent weapons from being sold to human rights abusers. Trump’s relationship with the NRA prior to 2016 came into question during the Mueller investigation.63 Donald Jr. has also maintained his relationship with the gun rights community, attending a turkey hunt prior to joining his father at the NRA convention on April 26. Donald Jr. also made headlines that same weekend, when it was reported that he almost didn’t buy his new $4.5 million Hamptons vacation home with his new girlfriend, former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, because it didn’t have a gun room.
A New Republican Party
Donald Trump represents to many today what the Republican Party should be, believing that the old Republican Party is a thing of the past. As stated by Ann Coulter in her book In Trump We Trust:
The only deep insight Republicans have had for the past three decades is: Be Reagan! This wouldn’t be a bad plan, inasmuch as Reagan was a wildly successful president (followed by a typically incompetent Bush), except: (1) Reagan was president in the 1980s, and (2) today’s Republicans don’t seem to remember Reagan. They are the political version of the cargo cult, a primitive tribe that worshiped modern technology without understanding how it worked, holding coconuts up to their ears as if they were air traffic controllers. Republicans believe they can capture Reagan’s greatness by repeating his answers to the problems of three decades ago.64
Trump has been successful in understanding what some established Republicans have yet to do, in that for many today, the ideology of the party that grew out of the 1970s no longer holds as much appeal. This is evident among Republican politicians Trump has also endorsed and supported. Take, for instance, Corey Stewart, who unsuccessfully ran for senator from Virginia in the 2018 midterm elections. Stewart, who is known for being pro–Confederate symbols and anti-immigration, once exclaimed: “This is the new Republican Party.” And that those resisting change in the Republican Party are “dinosaurs. They need to wake up and understand that President Trump has fundamentally remade the Republican Party.” Trump had tweeted his support for Stewart in June 2018: “Congratulations to Corey Stewart for his great victory for senator from Virginia. Now he runs against a total stiff, Tim Kaine, who is weak on crime and borders, and wants to raise your taxes through the roof. Don’t underestimate Corey, a major chance of winning!”65 While Trump has maintained some of the traditional values of the Republican Party, he has shifted away from other longstanding beliefs, including supporting free trade and increasing national debt. And it’s not just beliefs that Trump has altered, it is the overall attitude of the Republican Party.