Austin Ruse - The Catholic Case for Trump

Copyright 2020 by Austin Ruse

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To my mother Dorothy Thompson and my step-father Richard Thompson, original Trumpers

M illions of Americans are rallying around our polarizing president. Trump voters from 2016 are itching to cast their ballots again. If you have any doubt of that, just look at his massive rallies and record primary vote tallies. And while few have ever doubted the loyalty of Trumps base, the president has also won over scores of Republicans who held their noses and reluctantly voted for him in 2016. Those who were begrudging Trump voters are now enthusiastic Trump boosters. Even the Republicans who could not stomach casting a ballot for Trump and voted third party are now in Trumps column. They might say, I could not vote for such a vulgar huckster with a shady past, but, you know, he has done a good job and, I hate to say this, he has actually grown on me. Of course, Democrats and hard-core NeverTrumpers are still virulently anti-Trump. They will never be convinced.

Lots of Americans are puzzled by Trump, but much of his political success can be explained by a simple fact: Americans are sick of the condescending, so-called experts inserting themselves into their lives.

President Trump has brought a heavy dose of common sense to our expert-ridden politics. Thats why he drives many of his advisers nuts, who as experts themselves are often detached from commonsense decision-making. It also explains why his supporters love him so passionately. The experts, all of themin the government, the law, the judiciary, the academy, and the media especiallytend to think they are better than the common citizen. Whenever the experts reach a conclusion that is deeply unpopular among the American people, they sneer and write off the peoples objections as a product of ignorance.

And as if that werent enough, they think they know better than their boss, President Trump. He knows it. We know it. But Trump does not care about their jeers and will not abandon common sense by deferring to experts who have discredited themselves time and time again. Whether they are three-star generals, partners at white-shoe law firms, or guys with decades of senior government service, they have one job: to give the elected boss their advice but never to get too high and mighty.

In recent years, we Catholics have seen our faith become the target of expert opinion. Experts now believe that it is their duty to expunge traditional practitioners of the Catholic faith. We are just as much the enemy as Donald Trump as the endless lawsuits against individual Catholics and Catholic organizations make clear. The experts want to socially engineer a post-Christian society, and we are in their way.

Donald Trump is the man bringing the march of expert opinion to a halt. He stands for ordinary Americans, common sense, and traditions. He is the last bulwark against a radical Left that wants to destroy our way of life by any means necessary. But dont just take my word for it. In these pages, well cover the most important reasons why President Trump is a blessing to American Catholics. Well take on the arguments of the Catholic Left and show precisely why four more years of the Trump presidency is necessary for serious Catholics. In short, well make the Catholic case for Trump.

D onald Trump is an acquired taste. He is not for everyone, and no one can be talked into him. While some took to Trump right away, others resisted and then came around later. Many will never support Trump, no matter how convincing an argument you present to them. Trump is a journey you take alone.

For a politician, Trumps character is uniquely polarizing. Were used to sweet-talking, suave politicos who twist themselves in knots in their efforts to win over voters. Trump is certainly not of that variety. He is a larger-than-life personality whose manner and style often loom larger than his policy agenda. Some voters love that personality, while others hate it. So, while any voter, and especially Catholic voters, can appreciate Trumps policy accomplishments, his perceived character is often a sticking point. Thats why its essential to start with Trump the man before addressing his considerable policy accomplishments.

Trump voterswhether Catholic or nothave already dealt with the more flawed aspects of his life story. Those who were reluctant to vote for him because of those imperfections now have nearly four years of his accomplishments that may help them overcome that reluctance. But despite his flaws, which we will address in due course, Trumps character has considerable virtues.

Donald Trump is a different kind of politician, and that has served him well in the current political climate. American politics is as divided today as ever. Partisan polarization did not start with Trump; it didnt even start with Obama. An argument can be made that the great polarization began as far back as 1987, when Senators Teddy Kennedy and Joe Biden borked Judge Robert H. Bork before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Conservative voters certainly remember how genteel Republican leadership barely fought back against the slander and invective Democrats launched at Judge Bork. Most elected Republicans considered it ungentlemanly to fight back, not realizing that the attacks against Bork were an attack against their constituents.

After the success of the Bork smear campaign, Democrats started to play by a new set of rules. By weaponizing the media, they tried to pressure their colleagues across the aisle into submission. Republican officials didnt get the memo, but conservative citizens saw the new state of play. Conservatives remember how the Democrats tried to lynch Clarence Thomas. We remember how the Left burned George W. Bush in effigy, calling him a fascist and Hitler, while he remained presidential and above the fray. Some may have been proud of him for taking the high road, but many wished he would fight back. That was all the more true when Democrats used the same playbook against the gentleman Mitt Romney, who likewise responded by refusing to defend himself. When they accused him of giving people cancer and of pushing granny in a wheelchair off a cliff, he said nothing.

After nearly three decades of lost political battles, a rather plainspoken, gruff, and often hilarious non-politician came along who knew the enemy, never gave an inch, and always gave back ten times more than he got. As Lincoln said about Grant, here was a man who fights. And in most glaring contrast to previous Republicans, Donald Trump recognized that the press, the Democrats, and the elites in his own party were often willing to work together to oppose conservative causes. He knew from the beginning that he was in a three-front war that previous gentleman presidents and candidates had refused to acknowledge.