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Patrick J. O Brien

I get it! Trump isn’t perfect, but he’s a doer

Journalist Patrick O Brien writes that Trump may be a figure unlike any other in US political history but there’s something particularly powerful about Trump’s rhetorical style. He rallies people through impassioned, targeted conversation even if it doesn’t always follow a clear line, it is still effective making him what many believe is a candidate that “tells it like it is.”

Firstly, let me be clear, I am an Irish citizen with neither political allegiance to Republican nor Democratic politics. I am not writing this from a political perspective, I am simply sharing my thoughts about Donald Trump. Mind you, I do care who will next hold office in the White House, not because whoever it is will have their finger close to “that button” but the US Presidential results has consequences for us all. In the US political two-party system, there are just two seats at the table and with most US citizens not trusting their institutions at this time, what might one expect to happen when there are only two options and neither will consider the needs of the larger population, some will conclude that the answer is to blow this system up and roll the dice on whatever replaces it.

Donald Trump stunned the political world in 2016 when he became the first person without government or military experience ever to be elected president of the United States. His four-year tenure in the White House revealed extraordinary cracks in American society. Trump, the New York businessman and former reality TV show star, won the 2016 election after a campaign that defied norms and commanded public attention from the moment it began. His approach to governing was equally unconventional. Nobody can argue, whether you like his politics or not, that Donald Trump gets things done. For voters, how refreshing that is in modern politics, as often we moan that nothing gets done and that all most governments do is talk. It seems Trump’s indictment charges have not altered the views of those who support him and that his supporters believe that US support rests on Trump economic policies, not on his legal battles.

You cannot argue that Trump isn’t a straight talker, which is not always a good thing! Yes, he comes across as crass and rude but at least he says what he thinks. The majority of people are looking for simple answers and a leader to tell them what to do. Trump provides both. There is nothing ambiguous about what he says. He doesn’t confuse with complex analysis of complex problems. He tells you what he’s going to do and it’s always simple and straightforward. Trump is presently in the forefront of a revolt not against science as some claim, or against morality as others assert, but against an establishment class that left huge segments of the US population behind. Unlike most politicians, he is untutored, saying what he believes, with an upright and confident attitude. He may have personal baggage, but he doesn’t have hangers-on. Shortly after assuming office in January 2017, Trump accused the press of being an “enemy of the American people.” Attacks on the media had been a hallmark of Trump’s previously presidency campaign, and at times well deserved. Most of them detest him, for they are part of the class in their comfortable world of moral superiority he wants to overturn.

His supporters believe that Trump has an intuitive sense of what troubles America. They believe he has an instinctual understanding of people and this to me will be his biggest political asset. From my point of view Joe Biden is the worst White House incumbent in decades. Like many, I observed the recent political debate. Of course, it was at times tiresome and fatigue inducing. Like a bad road accident on our highways, you didn’t want to slow down yet somehow you just could not help but look and be horrified at Biden’s verbal stumbles and visible confusion finally forced the entire country to confront a self-evident truth, Joe Biden is no longer fit for the US presidency.

Well, Donald Trump may not be perfect but I’d rather bet on a man who talks rough and crass and get things done than support a party where its obvious that its leaders singular achievement is to have the lowest approval rating of any incumbent President since the 1950s and for whom his party are not willing to oust. Trump is now better positioned to win the White House than at any point in either of his previous campaign but what remains to be seen is has he got the strength to take on his many opponents and legal battles. Within US democracy, who is more to blame? Those who create the current environment like the US voting public or the person who takes advantage of it and runs for office in the hope to make “America great again?”

About the Author
Patrick J O Brien is an acclaimed journalist and Director of Exante who has been working in the media for almost 25 years. Patrick who hails from Ireland is based in Malta and a contributor to some of the world’s leading financial and political magazines. Recently he returned from Ukraine where he was reporting at ground level on the escalation of war and spent time documenting the work of the Red Cross and many human right organisations