On November 8, 2016, the man I had been rooting for, and arguing for, and educating anyone who would listen to me for, was elected the 45th president of the United States. It might as well have been a football game I was watching as I cheered and yelled, rooting for my guy as the states were called.

When Trump took Florida, I knew it was over. My guy was winning. Against all the odds and all the naysayers and all the protesting degenerates, and the Hollywood elites’ multi-million dollar fundraisers for Clinton, my man Trump was taking this thing all the way to the gold. Not even the fake news could stop him. There were two people who I knew at that very moment had to be as ecstatic as I was. Trump was two or three states away from victory and the districts coming in were in his favor. Clinton was trailing and not looking good. I blasted two tweets of impending victory off; one to Scott Baio and the other to Sean Hannity. Their passion for the man and what he stood for mirrored my own. It was a moment in politics like no other.

Later that night, Trump crashed through that glass ceiling that separates what has always been with what is now. A non-politician who had been recklessly smeared into seeming oblivion by the mainstream media and both political parties became the 45th president of the United States. Trump went into election night with a 6 percent chance of winning, according to some pundits. It was a jaw-dropping victory that left some teary-eyed, others speechless, and then there were those hooting and hollering victoriously. At one point or another, I was all of those things.

That was the night Donald J. Trump became the president who wasn’t supposed to be.

From the very beginning, the democratic party had Clinton taking the White House. There was no question. There was no way she could not win. According to information in emails released by Wikileaks over the months, other countries were under the impression Hillary would be the 45th president. Plans were being made for how the countries would proceed once she took office. Big time donations were rolling into the Clinton Global Initiative. This election business was nothing more than a mere formality.

The mainstream media was sold down the river on Clinton. She was their sweetheart. There was nothing they wouldn’t do for her. The democratic strategy from the get-go was to get an easy opponent for Clinton to run against. She was a dismal candidate who couldn’t win against a republican from strong political lines like a Jeb Bush. They wanted someone they could squash like a cockroach. Trump was on their short list and the media dutifully covered and propelled his uprising in the ranks among his 16 competitors.

As an outsider looking in, I was struck by one thing in particular during the primaries. They had no real dirt on Trump. Here’s a man who’s been in the spotlight since the 80s, had a hit show with The Apprentice for a decade, and the worst they could say about him is he called Rosie O’Donnell fat, had a problem with Carly Fiorina’s face, and was rude and offensive to most of the 16 contenders sharing the stage with him. When Rand Paul criticized him for his offensive behavior, Trump gestured to him as he looked at the audience and said, “I never attacked him on his looks, and believe me there’s plenty of subject matter right there!”

It was these remarks that differentiated Trump from his fellow competitors. He was raw. Entertaining. Himself. He had no filter. He said whatever came out of his mouth at that moment. Middle America took notice. To them, here was a guy who they understood, and debate after debate not only did he entertain them, but he talked about what mattered to them and what effected them in their everyday lives. He understood them and they understood him. He spoke their language.

Trump empathized with the coal miners whose jobs had either already left or were on the chopping block due to Obama’s regulations. While Clinton was on the campaign trail saying she would be putting them out of business, Trump was the guy telling them their jobs wouldn’t be leaving if he were in the White House. Trump understood that coal was the difference between these miners having food on the table and a roof over their heads, and being out on the street, unable to care for their families.

The effects of immigration on the average American didn’t go unnoticed by Trump. He campaigned on building a southern wall and improving vetting from high-risk Middle East countries. It’s interesting to note that during the fifth debate, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer tried to paint Trump into a corner over immigration. Blitzer stated Trump wanted to keep “non-American Muslims” out of the country. Trump wasn’t having it. “We’re not talking about religion,” he shot back. “We’re talking about security.” He’s maintained that stance since day one. It’s about American security and American lives. However, that doesn’t work with the media’s agenda to paint him as a racist.

It’s always important to listen to how a newscaster or, in this case, a moderator, phrases a question or remark. It was obvious Blitzer wanted America to hear Trump was anti-Muslim. It doesn’t matter how Trump answered the question. The question with Trump’s alleged unfavorable view of Muslims was out there coming through everyone’s television and computer screen. Trump was anti-Muslim. It was neatly and strategically packaged and sold to the American consumer. This was the beginning of the “fake news” that continues to this day.

A months-long smear campaign welcomed Trump as the last man standing after beating out 16 other republican hopefuls in the primaries. The media turned to heavier artillery and took Trump into a death spiral. It was Trump TV 24 hours a day, and boy did it get ugly. The media worked overtime to sell Trump as a fascist, Hitler, racist, white supremacist. If it was something bad, they’d put Trump’s name to it.

Protesters turned to violence and mayhem at Trump rallies. Their anger spilled into the streets and adjacent neighborhoods. Flags were torched, traffic was stopped. Those caught wearing MAGA hats were beat up. The police were outnumbered and they were targets too. Yes, media liberal elites were bashing law enforcement for excessive force and putting the criminals up on pedestals. This translated into the cops being racists, so control of the protesters and rioters was limited at best.

I always wondered if there were other people yelling at their TV and cursing out the likes of Don Lemon and Wolf Blitzer like I was. They’d each devote their full hour to dehumanizing Trump and picking apart everything he’d ever said or done. Sometimes you have to watch “the enemy” to see what they’re up to. And the mainstream media had proven time and again throughout the campaign, they were the enemy and up to no good. If damning details came out concerning Clinton, the liberal news media gave it a half a minute. If Trump sneezed the wrong way, they’d massage it and manipulate it and put it on a platter with a side of racism and a slice of misogyny and serve it as their main course.

Trump ran for America, American values, and the everyman. And it was the power of the everyman from all backgrounds and walks of life that embraced this man and stood behind him no matter what the pundits were saying.

It’s hard to imagine any American would have issues with Trump’s campaign promises. It makes good common sense to secure the borders, lower taxes, build up infrastructure, bring back jobs, extremely vet immigrants from high-risk countries, deport criminal illegals. These are all solid objectives that any patriotic president would undertake.

The problem is not Trump’s objectives or agenda. Obama deported roughly 2.5 million Mexican illegals in eight years. He ran on keeping the Mexican illegals out. This is nothing new. Bill Clinton also wanted to shut down illegal immigration. Neither of these presidents were demonized for their views on immigration.

Anyone who lived through 9-11 knows the enormity of that day. Are the people who want lax immigration and border policies conveniently choosing not to remember? Both Reagan and Obama put restrictions on people coming in from the Middle East over security concerns. Why is Trump a racist and fascist and xenophobe and 5 million other newfangled insults whose meaning is unknown by the majority of people using them? It’s a shameful day in America when a man is labeled a racist for loving his country and standing for the values on which it was built.

The real problem is the damage the media has caused to Trump’s campaign, his presidency, his person, his family, the American people, and even the legitimacy of the American free press itself. It’s been a steady stream of negativity, misinformation, fear and hate designed to bring down our president. If the country falls with him, so be it. The divisive and nasty nature of some of today’s liberal media is seeping into the American conscience. Just a quick stroll through YouTube can show the extent of the damage done. When a person is taunted and called a racist and cursed out for wearing a T-shirt reading, “Make America Great Again,” my generation must know it’s a cold day in hell.

One of the most disturbing things resulting from all this has been the effect on America’s children. To see a little kid at a Trump protest with all the rated R stuff going on should disturb every adult. A child learns what he lives. One can only imagine what these kids hear at home about the president.

I shake my head. A parent’s failure. They are so consumed with media-generated hate and hype, that they are teaching their kids everything that’s negative and wrong and bad. They don’t see the grand opportunity sitting before them to give their child a magical gift – the gift of Trump’s triumph. Here’s a political outsider who, despite the Clinton cash machine, the liberal news media, the Hollywood elites, and the powers that be, came out with the most stunning and unbelievable victory of all political time.

THIS is the Trump story parents should be telling their children. Believe in yourself and put your heart and passion into your dreams because anything can happen and anything is possible. Nothing is beyond your reach. This, my friends, is the story of Trump.