OPINION:
President Trump is ill with coronavirus, having contracted it in the closing days of his reelection campaign. It was an October surprise no one expected nor should be glad to see. The latter, sad to say, isn’t the case. Mr. Trump’s enemies in the chattering class and on the far left who despise him have wished for nothing less than his demise. It’s disgusting and does not deserve elaboration, but rather condemnation.
It will be a stunning blow to their haughtiness on Nov. 3, if the American people reelect him. Why? Because he is everything failed establishment politicians are not. Indeed, they created the circumstances that ushered in the election of Mr. Trump. How? By failing to keep the promises they sanctimoniously proffered for decades to make our country a better place to raise a family, grow a business and enjoy the blessings of our constitutional freedoms.
In fact, the establishment class in both parties have done the opposite. Mr. Trump filled the void they created, and unlike them, has kept his promises. He rebuilt the economy, strengthened our military, destroyed ISIS, wound down foreign wars, advanced peace in the Middle East, placed record numbers of conservatives on the courts and stood with everyday Americans who have taken note of his promise-keeping. Indeed, they disdain those who failed to do so before Mr. Trump arrived on the scene. And they compose an army of supporters who will be heard on Nov 3.
They see what the establishment — appropriately termed “the swamp” — did to the nation in recent decades that weakened our freedoms, our national security and our economy. The establishment has a vision for America that is alien to that of our Founding Fathers who sought to establish a republic based on individual freedom, the rule of law, limited government and the pursuit of individual happiness, indeed, the American dream. The establishment hates Mr. Trump because he aspires to return America to these founding principles.
Even before he was elected, the establishment in his own party did all they could to derail his candidacy. When he was inaugurated, they made common cause with the bitter voices of Democrats angry that Mr. Trump had defeated Hillary Clinton decisively. They first attacked him as having won because of Russian interference in the election on his behalf. That theory was without credible evidence from the beginning.
Then they tried to besmirch the president by claiming that his private business interests somehow violated the emolument clause of the U.S. Constitution. That too proved fatuous. Then they resorted to licentious charges of unfaithfulness that collapsed in a pile of discredited testimony. However, they renewed their main attack predicated on the utterly false charge that the president had conspired with the Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
They investigated him ad nauseum, sparing no expense, all based on a completely fabricated and salacious dossier created out of whole cloth by a Clinton-financed foreign spy that the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI used to falsely obtain warrants to spy on Mr. Trump’s campaign and his allies. In fact, now we know that it was actually Mrs. Clinton who conspired with the Russians to defeat the president.
Honestly, Hollywood movie producers couldn’t have imagined this. And when the Russian conspiracy collapsed following the feckless report and testimony rendered by special counsel Robert Mueller, the “Never Trumpers” found their raison d’etre in advancing the specious theory that the president sought to enlist the Ukrainian government in his reelection effort. If it weren’t for the nationally embarrassing spectacle of a Democrat-inspired impeachment trial where the president was acquitted, it would have been laughable.
Then COVID-19 struck with a vengeance, and the president’s accomplishments up until then were buried in an orchestrated criticism of his handling of the pandemic ab ovo by the Democrats and their sycophants in the media. In fact, he moved quickly to confront the crisis by closing our borders to China and mustering a national effort for both equipment and a cure.
But what aggravated Democrats more than anything was the president’s desire to keep our economy open, a success story they knew would weaken their chances to defeat him. They appeared to benefit from the economic collapse until the economy came roaring back over the summer. The opportunity to replace a U.S. Supreme Court justice with yet another conservative was some good news for the president. But when he took ill, COVID-19 rushed back to the front pages, along with the despicable “he had it coming to him” rhetoric of his distractors.
As the saying goes, that which doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. The president has suffered much more than COVID-19 from the day he was elected and when he wins reelection, it will be impossible to argue he is anything but indomitable.
• L. Scott Lingamfelter is a retired U.S. Army colonel and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates and a 2020 Virginia delegate for President Trump to the Republican National Convention.
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