Why I Don't Criticize Trump
A Comment Reaction
I didn’t have time to read the comments from yesterday’s post, though someone wrote to say I should put up a poll to ask readers whether they agreed with Trump or Musk. You can vote in the poll below.
But first, Free Will writes in the comments:
Someone on Twitter also asked me why I never criticize Trump. The answer is simple. I spent four years from 2016 to 2020 not only criticizing Trump but actively trying to bring him down. I was fully on board with Russiagate. I marched in the Women’s March. I went along with the lie that the Access Hollywood tape proved he was a sexual assaulter (though deep down I knew that was not true).
For the last ten years, there has been nothing but criticism of Trump day in and day out, 24/7, every second of every day. Do I think Trump was on Epstein Island? No, he’s already been cleared of it. If they had that kind of dirt on him, they surely would have used it. Instead, they had to try to frame him to impeach him, to vote him out. They raided Mar-a-Lago. They indicted him four times.
The reason I don’t waste my time criticizing him is that I support and vote for the Trump I know exists - the whole Trump. The good Trump, the bad Trump. The guy who says things he shouldn’t, the guy who might be in over his head with Putin. The flaws are part of the deal. This is like voting for a Great White Shark, saying, “Why don’t you care that he eats baby seals?”
Why don’t I care? Because I care more about ending “gender affirming care” and biological men playing in sports. I care about how the billionaire class has gutted America and the reliance on slave labor overseas. I like that Trump is strong enough to face all of this down and try to do something about it in the short time he has in office.
Why would I waste a second of that time criticizing him? What more can possibly be said by now? I went into my support willingly. If he did something I thought was unforgivable, I would say something. I am not in the “Trump cult.” There isn’t a “Trump cult.” Some people are fiercely loyal and protective of him because they watched him almost get shot in the head on live television. They love him but it isn’t a cult.
A cult would mean everyone takes the vaccine when Trump says to take it. That didn’t happen. A cult means everyone is commanded to obey and comply - that’s true on the Left, not the Right. A cult pushes a singular ideology everyone must believe — true on the Left, not the Right.
In the case of Musk, I think it’s personal. He feels abandoned by Trump. But more than that, he risked his whole business to help Trump win. He got very little in return for that. The Left destroyed his Tesla brand. They called him a Nazi. They burned his cars. Advertising plummeted on X. On top of that, Trump got rid of the EV mandate (I think). So yeah, he feels burned.
But he’s still the richest man in the world. Hard to feel too sorry for him. He still crossed the line when he said Trump was in the Epstein files. He’s still a big baby who is overly sensitive and throws tantrums. I side with Trump because he is the one in power now and is in a precarious position. It’s not all about Elon.
That said, I am grateful to Elon. I have written about him a lot. Here are my pieces:
The Richest Non-compliant Man in the World
[Update: Since writing this, Elon Musk has actually bought Twitter!]
Can Elon Musk Save the Democrats from Themselves?
As we head into the midterm elections, our virtual civil war all too often is fought on social media, as each side battles daily to capture the media narrative. Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter felt like a major win for the real “resistance.” He is our Luke Skywalker, one of our last best hopes for freedom against the Empire.
Thank You, Elon
Before Twitter became X, the Democrats had their most powerful tool to shape the narrative. The blue-check elites decided the consensus. The media echoed and amplified it, and it trickled down into the homes of unsuspecting Americans. The narrative was everywhere: on local news, at airports, at the gym, and at gas stations. Most would never know it orig…
It's Elon Musk Who is Trying to Save Democracy
“The receptivity of the masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts, all effective propaganda must be limited to very few points and must harp on these in slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan.”
So, yeah. And if you think holding out for tougher spending cuts is doable, then keep that dream alive. That’s okay with me. But with a slim majority in the House and a likely Blue Wave in two years, this is a brief moment to grab what you can. That’s how I see it.
You can take a poll.
Sasha summed up what a lot of people feel about Trump:
"I care more about ending “gender affirming care” and biological men playing in sports. I care about how the billionaire class has gutted America and the reliance on slave labor overseas. I like that Trump is strong enough to face all of this down and try to do something about it in the short time he has in office."
Well said!
I like both Trump and Musk (I voted for Trump and I own Tesla stock) but I know Trump is a dealmaker that knows he's got a thin majority in both Houses of Congress and, thus, is limited in what he can get done. Also, Trump didn't run this time on fiscal conservatism but, as a nod to Musk, he did help create DOGE and send a letter of rescission to Congress to claw back funds and officially cut them. Musk is learning that politics only allows you so much to get done because you have to please everyone just a little to get anything done.