Debate Disaster

I sat through last night’s two-hour GOP debate, and that’s two hours I’ll never get back. I have to be honest – I thought it was an embarrassing performance. It looked and sounded like a food fight. I think this commentary nailed it. 

Below are some random observations.

Left-wing Talking Points

What in the world were Fox executives thinking when they agreed to partner with Univision for this debate? Virtually every question Ilia Calderon asked was a left-wing attack against the Republican Party. 

Questions about income inequality, amnesty, Marxist critical race theory and alleged hate crimes against LGBTQ people, led one conservative commentator to ask, “Is this an MSNBC debate?”

The biggest issue facing the country is the invasion taking place at our southern border. Calderon, however, attempted to browbeat the Republican candidates into embracing amnesty and open borders. 

Listening to her questions really did make me wish that Donald Trump had been there. I could imagine him saying, “You must be at the wrong event. We’re not running for president of Mexico, but president of the United States.” 

If any of the other candidates had said that, they would have owned the night! But none of them had the wits or the courage to do it. 

By the way, Calderon made her opening comments in English and Spanish. You’re not supposed to be a U.S. citizen and voting in our elections if you can’t understand English. Maybe she was speaking to the left’s illegal voters.

Unbelievably, the moderators played a clip of Ronald Reagan endorsing amnesty in 1986 and they left out all context. 

Reagan agreed to a small amnesty and Congress agreed to secure the border. But, in short order, that amnesty became the biggest mistake of Reagan’s presidency. The amnesty went through, and congressional Democrats failed to secure the border. As a result, illegal immigration today is exponentially worse than it was in 1986. 

The lesson from 1986 is not that we should repeat this mistake again. The lesson is that serious border security measures must come first before anything else is even discussed. Period.

Univision, and by extension Fox News, made amnesty, not Biden’s border security crisis, the issue last night. It presented Republicans as the problem, not Joe Biden and the open borders left. 

Sadly, it pains me to report that the board of the Reagan Presidential Library is part of the GOP establishment that is openly at war against Donald Trump and populist conservatism, and it showed last night. The irony is that Reagan himself was a populist!

The Best Line

The best line of the night was not delivered on the debate stage in California, but at a Detroit factory where Donald Trump addressed hundreds of blue-collar workers. He began his remarks with this statement:

“I want to begin this evening by saluting these truly great Americans who do not get the credit they deserve. . . To the welders, assembly line workers, machine operators, forklift drivers, pipefitters, tool and dye makers, mechanics, electricians, technicians, and journeymen -- we love being with you. . . You built this country. You love this country. And you are the ones that make our country run.”

There are all kinds of things for which people can criticize Donald Trump. But he has a natural ability to connect with working Americans who feel neglected and cheated. They love him, and they want him back. 

I didn’t hear nearly enough from his competitors last night that advances the goal of making these Americans feel comfortable in the GOP and the conservative movement. All conservative candidates must do a better job of appealing to Middle America.

Christie The Critic

Chris Christie should be ashamed of himself. He used leftist talking points to attack Donald Trump, as if that’s what the GOP really needs – another washed-up politician bashing Trump. 

Christie repeated the lie that Trump built “only 52 miles of border wall.” Kudos to Mike Pence for setting the record straight – it’s 458 miles. Trump replaced hundreds of miles of weak and ineffective barriers with a wall of 30-foot steel bollards. Critics like Chris Christie dismiss that fact. 

But as one Washington Post reporter put it: 

“As someone who has spent a lot of time lately in the shadow of the border wall, I need to puncture this notion that ‘replacement’ sections are ‘not new.’ There is really no comparison between vehicle barriers made from old rail ties and 30-foot bollards.”

Christie also suggested that Trump was a coward for ducking debates and mocked him as “Donald Duck.” I can’t imagine Christie courageously standing up to what Trump has endured from the radical left and the Deep State for the past eight years. 

Again, there are legitimate things you can criticize Trump for. But suggesting he’s a coward only made Christie look like an idiot.

Virtually all of the candidates on the debate stage have gotten richer during their political careers. Trump could have lived a wonderful life as a billionaire and never gotten his shoes dirty by getting into the political process. He did it to save America, and the left is doing everything it can to destroy him. 

Shame On Haley

Unbelievably, Nikki Haley tried to accuse Trump of being soft on communist China. She complained about the tariffs he put on Chinese products flooding into the U.S. That was a bone to the globalist donor wing of the GOP that still worships at the altar of free trade and is still searching for their anti-Trump candidate.

I don’t have the space to counter every one of Haley’s distortions. It’s telling that she didn’t say, “I was Trump’s U.N. ambassador and I told him repeatedly he should do X, Y and Z to fight communist China.”  She didn’t say that because she didn’t tell him to do any of those things. 

Instead, she was happy to be in the spotlight at the U.N. doing what Trump told her to do, and now she’s claiming she is so much tougher on China than he is.

Haley also attacked Gov. Ron DeSantis for opposing fracking in Florida. Here’s what she doesn’t get: Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment banning offshore drilling by a margin of 69% to 31%. Floridians do not want to risk their beaches and tourism industry. 

Moreover, it’s not necessary because there are plenty of other areas around the country where energy production is already well-established.  Haley just jeopardized her chances in Florida because she clearly doesn’t understand the politics of this critical state.

So, that’s my take on last night’s debate. What did you think? I’d appreciate your feedback.

The Culture War

A disturbing vote in the House of Representatives shows why this country is in such trouble.

As you know, Biden is pushing extreme, far-left agendas throughout the federal government, and the military is no exception. I believe this is one of the major reasons why we’re facing such a terrible recruiting crisis. 

House conservatives tried to do something about it. Rep. Chip Roy offered an amendment to block taxpayer funding for gay Pride events and drag queen shows in the military. 

The only pride that should be on display in the U.S. military is the pride our men and women in uniform have for our country. Men parading around in dresses won’t win the next war against communist China. 

This should have been a no-brainer. Sadly, it wasn’t. 

Every House Democrat voted to fund gay Pride events and drag queen shows in the military, while 92% of Republicans voted to stop your tax dollars from being wasted on such nonsense. Unfortunately, the amendment failed because 18 Republicans broke ranks and voted with the Democrats.

No wonder the public thinks we’re headed in the wrong direction!

Here’s the main lesson: Progressive politicians are all in on this cultural insanity. They are owned lock, stock and barrel by the radical LGBTQ movement. There is nothing too insane, nothing too extreme that progressives won’t embrace.  

But it is also infuriating that 18 Republicans don’t have the spine to stand up against it. 

If these Republicans “represent” you, let them know how you feel about their “stewardship” of your hard-earned tax dollars.

Ken Buck (CO)

Ken Calvert (CA)

Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR)

John Curtis (UT)

Anthony D’Esposito (NY)

John Duarte (CA)

Brian Fitzpatrick (PA)

Andrew Garbarino (NY)

Tony Gonzales (TX)

David Joyce (OH)

Thomas Kean (NJ)

Kevin Kiley (CA)

Nick LaLota (NY)

Michael Lawler (NY)

Nancy Mace (SC)

Marcus Molinaro (NY)

Jay Obernolte (CA)

Michelle Steel (CA)