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As the dust is settling from the first debate between President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the political elites are failing to understand how badly Harris failed to achieve her objectives.
Nothing better illustrates the gap between reality and our political elite (including a number of famous Republicans) than their complete misreading of what happened in the clash between the ABC News-Harris Team and the lone opponent, President Trump.
Every Trump supporter and independent witnessed the astounding dishonesty of ABC’s moderators (who were actually active debaters helping Harris take on President Trump). Their reaction has been outrage and, in some cases, a condemnation of ABC and Vice President Harris.
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One observer said to me, “They didn’t have to give her the questions, she was clearly giving them the questions.” The fact that one of her closest friends is also in charge of ABC News just further confirmed for many Americans that the fix was in and the whole thing was rigged.
Trump’s base is 48 percent of Americans who feel there is a corrupt establishment trying to control their lives and rip them off. The spectacle of ABC News so blatantly rigging the fight just confirmed everything they already believed and firmly placed Harris in the corrupt establishment wing. Walking through three airports on Thursday, I was greeted by dozens of people who were infuriated by the debate and bitterly angry at how stupid Harris thinks they are.
The fact is, authenticity beats wearing a mask. Being yourself beats trying to be the person your consultants have trained you to be. This has always been true in American politics.
Harris further hurt herself by spending a large part of her listening time making faces and looking cute. It was the behavior of a spoiled teenager, not a commander-in-chief.
The elites value style over substance. They would like everyone to behave as though they were at a Washington cocktail party.
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Most Americans are not so highfalutin. Most Americans do not appreciate well-dressed, clever people treating them as if they are ignorant and incapable of realizing when they are being manipulated and lied to.
The simple fact is: Vice President Harris can’t tell the truth, because an honest admission of her beliefs – and the failures of the last three-and-a-half years – would doom her campaign. The ABC team did all it could to stop President Trump from telling the truth about her. The most glaring example was the blunt intervention that there were no states in which babies could be left to die after they were born. That was an outright lie. The truth is that in Tim Walz’s Minnesota at least eight babies have been left to die after botched abortions. It is a matter of public record. If you want a pro-infanticide vice president, then “Tampon Tim” is your guy.
President Trump’s great attraction to the supporters who have been with him through thick and thin is precisely that he is not an effete, fawning, dishonest, and manipulative cretin from the governing class. Remember, they’ve stuck with him through the Russia hoax, a multiyear investigation, two impeachments, multiple lawsuits and slanderous attacks by the leftwing propaganda media.
You can like him or dislike him, admire him or disdain him, but what you get is the authentic Trump.
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So, we had a debate between the privileged, protected elitist Princess of the Left and a down-to-earth guy who people understand. It isn’t that President Trump can’t function in high society and country clubs. He owns country clubs (Callista and I see him occasionally at Trump National in Washington). He can afford as many tuxedos as any politician in the country. But he is a regular guy who never hides who he really is.
The fact is, authenticity beats wearing a mask. Being yourself beats trying to be the person your consultants have trained you to be. This has always been true in American politics.
The elites completely misread the outcome of the debate, because they valued style over substance. Furthermore, they expected and accepted that ABC would be dishonest, one-sided and arrogantly abrasive. As elitists, they figured that an outsider like President Trump deserved that kind of treatment.
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The great genius of the Founding Fathers was understanding that freedom ultimately depends upon all the people – not just the elite. Further, Abraham Lincoln’s admonition that with popular sentiment, anything is possible. Without popular sentiment nothing is possible,” is still true.
As the polls come in and show that Trump’s authenticity and substance beat the ABC-Harris team’s dishonesty and overtrained style, go back and read the columns and quotes of those who totally misread what happened. Take note of who simply does not understand the wisdom of the American people.
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The great Democratic political consultant Joe Napolitan warned, “Never underestimate the intelligence of the American people nor overestimate the amount of information they have.”
On Tuesday night, Vice President Harris underestimated the intelligence of the people she wants to lead. She then compounded her mistake by giving them the information about what a bad president she would be.