Rod Thomson



As I spend a fair amount of time on TV and in other media defending President Trump’s policies, I understand better than most that supporters of President Trump are tasked with the difficult job of defending the man’s presidency in a world dominated by every culture mover universally opposed to him on an unbelievable scale.



But supporters must be able to defend his presidency to neighbors, friends, co-workers and family who are middle-of-the-road voters. Hardened Democrats are not the target. Do not concern yourselves with any brand of hardened never-Trumpers. It is a fool’s errand today. Their minds are cast in concrete and no amount of evidence or argument will change them. So be it.



Elections are won on two fronts: turnout and swings in the middle. On the former point, that comes down to a lot of party and campaign infrastructure doing it right. Trump will take care of the energy for turnout because of who he is.



On the latter, however, a lot of this can fall to those who understand the threat of the shockingly radicalized Democratic Party and the measurable successes of President Trump. The country is much better off, and so is the world, under Trump’s presidency. But many voters in the middle don’t know that



Those swing voters don’t read conservative news outlets or watch Fox News or read commentaries such as The Revolutionary Act. Supporters must assume they do not know the rest of the story, because the mainstream media has not, and absolutely will not, tell them. They mostly know the Democrat-driven narrative through the mainstream media and the culture.



You, in real-life relationships, are the ones who can inform them, who can change their internal thinking on Trump. Even if you are uncomfortable with Donald Trump the person and don’t like all of his communications, if you are voting for him you need to persuade others because as in 2016, but maybe even more so, the alternative is radically bad.



One thing Trump supporters cannot do successfully with those in the middle is be bombastic, exaggerate or get facts wrong. Calm, level-headed, rational and fact-driven responses can break through for some, and it will only take some. The case is so strong, but people are flabbergasted when they hear it. Frequently Democrats I debate cannot even respond to it, they are so completely unaware of the other side.



(Here’s a clip of that from a recent ABC debate I was in, that is both enlightening and sort of shocking.)



With that said, here are solid answers to what middle voters hear from the Democrat/media establishment (often taken from direct conversations and debates I’ve had.) This is the first of several parts coming.

A threat to the Republic

“Donald Trump is a direct threat to the Republic. He’s dismantling the Constitution and acting like a dangerous dictator.”



It’s tempting to want to laugh hysterically at this objection in all its myriad and daily forms. Resist the temptation. Too many voters who can swing elections are seriously concerned about this because they don’t pay close attention. They watch CNN in the airport or catch their local news or see “trusted news sources” on Facebook and are unaware of a few key facts.



Briefly, Trump has made Americans’ lives better through getting government out of our lives in many areas, reducing our taxes, spurring the economy, presiding over the lowest unemployment rates in generations and pushing back on our enemies abroad. He’s also continually deregulated — which is the opposite of what a dictator does.



One great factoid: 4 million fewer people are on food stamps now than when Trump took office; 4 million Americans who have more self-worth, more purpose in life, and are contributing more to the country than before. That’s a win for everyone.



Well, not the Democrats. That party is running leading presidential candidates who are proud socialists, who would raise taxes, promise free college (more taxes) free healthcare (lots more taxes) abolish ICE and have open borders and pursue reparations. Sometimes it sounds ludicrous to go through even part of the list, but the people you need to reach may not know it exists and that it’s true. A surprising number of firm Democrats don’t even know it, and disbelieve me when I bring it up.



There is a threat to the Republic, but it is not President Trump.

Obstruction of justice

“The Mueller Report showed collusion with Russians and Mueller said he could not clear Trump of obstruction. There is a criminal in the White House.”



Believe it or not, this remains a thing and will remain one.



Robert Mueller was made Special Counsel to investigate Russian interference in the election. Democrats and the media immediately labeled it collusion and Mueller morphed into that, and then into obstruction.



Here’s the key: In his report, Mueller specifically cleared Trump and Trump campaign officials of any collusion. That was the serious charge. He said he could not clear him of obstruction of justice. But that was not his job, nor the job of any prosecutor. The job is to either bring charges or close the case. This, along with airing 448 pages of dirty laundry — again something prosecutors do not do — is what leads many to believe Mueller ended up with a politicized investigation.



But it muddies the water for middle voters who the media leads to believe the accusation.



If he had stuck with an investigation of Russian interference, including collusion with any candidates or parties, the evidence would have led him directly to the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign, which through intermediaries assuredly paid Russians for “information” on the Trump campaign. This is the notorious Steele dossier, which has been largely discredited.



Attorney General Barr and other federal investigators are now looking into how such an investigation, that included bugging the presidential candidate’s team and planting informants in it, got so deep and invasive when there was no underlying evidence to support it, as Mueller concluded.



Just as with the threat to the Republic, the real corruption appears not to be on the Trump side.

Inhuman immigration policies

“I can’t get past the inhumane treatment of our Latinx sisters and brothers, especially the children, at the border.” “The dead children at the border are Trump’s doing.”



We all agree that the border is a dangerous place, particularly for everyone crossing it illegally between the legal ports of entry. But this did not start with Trump. We’ve had a border crisis for as long as we have had politicians unwilling to enforce our border and immigration laws. A very long time. (As an aside, we’re obviously an exceptional country because people from all over the world are willing to risk their lives to come here.)



The picture of the drowned father and his 2-year-old daughter is heartbreaking, but it is the result of border policies that Trump has been trying to change. And let’s be honest, too many Republicans in the past have been complicit in those policies of wink-and-nod encouragement of illegal immigrants.



They are coming and crossing illegally so they can ask for asylum — which about 80 percent of them do not qualify for. They have to be housed and adjudicated. But because of the high numbers, they are overwhelming the system with wait times averaging almost two years. Combined with court rulings on dealing with adults and children, that means that those with minors must be released far before they can be adjudicated with just a promise to show up in court.



This essentially means that virtually every illegal immigrant gets released into the interior and stays in the United States, in reality under pre-Trump enforcement, as long as they want. This is untenable at every level, and it leads directly to people doing exactly what this father did. It also leads to the overwhelming of border patrol facilities and poor conditions, which the Democrats decry even as they push policies furthering the situation.



But all of the deaths we hear about at the border under Trump. Surely all of this is much worse now, right? Wrong. Here’s a chart published by the BBC, no friend of conservatives.



So if the conditions for people at the border are a major concern, whatever else you do, vote for President Trump because he is trying to change it.



Remember, it was Obama who built the “cages” for children who were being used then as now as a tool to get in — due to Democrats in the Ninth Circuit rulings. It is Democrats who are encouraging people to come. It is Democrats who now want an open border. It is Democrats who have set much of the entire stage for this. And for a long period, it was Democrats who refused to fund more beds and more care for the waves of people coming, as Trump and the GOP sought.



This is Part I in an ongoing series of these issues. Future articles will cover the charges of racism, of attacking the media, of this being Obama’s economy, of being a puppet of Putin and of being anti-Christian.



Rod Thomson is an author, past Salem radio host, ABC TV commentator, former journalist and is Founder of The Revolutionary Act.

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