Let me get this out of the way: I voted for Trump, probably for the same reason as many other voters. The election was a choice between a Republican and another Democrat promising to continue the leftward lurch of the country. My vote for Trump was a stopgap vote.
Yet, it is undeniable that Trump has twisted some on the right, especially at Fox News, into knots. Trump appears to have a conservative core, with a whole lot of inconsistencies and contradictions attached. At times, he is incoherent. At other times, he is a petulant boor … and incoherent. Still, the Trump adulation has turned some on the right into sycophantic apologists for everythingTrump. They have become what Trump is, seemingly unaware of the contradictions, hypocrisies, and buffoonery.
My favorite example is Sean Hannity. For years, before the rise of Trump, he proudly proclaimed, “I am a conservative, not a Republican”. He was a booster for everything Reagan. Today, he’s a mouthpiece for everything Trump.
In 1988, in the VP debate, Bentsen said to Quayle, “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.” Well, Hannity, I knew Reagan. Trump is no Reagan!
Reagan was a free trader but had to make compromises in the reality of governing. Nothing new here. Reagan’s characteristic free trade bonafides were clear when he said in 1986, “Our trade policy rests firmly on the foundation of free and open markets. I recognize . . . the inescapable conclusion that all of history has taught: The freer the flow of world trade, the stronger the tides of human progress and peace among nations.” His protectionism in autos and electronics were adjustments to political realities.
Where’s Trump vis-a-vis Reagan and trade? In debate he said, “Because I did disagree with Ronald Reagan very strongly on trade. I disagreed with him. We should have been much tougher on trade even then. I’ve been waiting for years. Nobody does it right.” Trump’s egotism is boundless. Only he can do trade right.
And to do it right means “protectionism” – undoubtedly – even if Trump can’t bring himself to use the word. Neither can Hannity. As Trump goes, theTrumpkins mindlessly go. People like Hannity just kicked Reagan overboard to be replaced by their new infatuation – Trump.
Anything and any person not glowing in their praise of Trump will set off derision. Does anybody doubt Hannity’s many interviews of Trump to be softball? Megyn Kelly had the temerity to mention it alongside Clinton’s puff interviews. Hannity went ballistic on Megyn on Twitter, “@megynkelly u should be mad at @HillaryClinton Clearly you support her.” The love of Trump trumps network comradery.
Let’s leave aside Hannity and turn to Tucker Carlson. Trump mouths the AFL-CIO line on trade and jobs; Carlson pushes a question that would make any government-loving liberal economist beam in envy: “Will driverless cars soon put Americans out of work?” I know, I know. It’s just a question. But the line of questioning is Luddite. When did automation become the bete noire? I suspect the simple-minded influence of Trump. Take a look.
Trump thinks that free trade sacrifices jobs. It’s not a huge leap to think that automation does as well. The new economic catechism seems to demand government power to determine what to produce, how to produce, and who to sell it to. Socialism anyone? The Trump knot has become Gordian.
Lost in the Trump-love is the Reaganite fusion of free market economics, social traditionalism, and a masculine foreign policy. Prior to Trump, people on the right were aware that automation doesn’t produce a net loss of jobs any more than the invention of the automobile in the 30-40 years from the internal combustion engine to Henry Ford’s Model T. Smoot-Hawley left its own foul taste. Trump gives us the chance to repeat the lunacies, and the lemmings follow in his wake.
RogerG