It wasn’t long ago that I was making the point that no matter who wins the 2020 election, President Donald Trump was going to be an entity that guided the course of America for decades.

Now, Texas Senator Ted Cruz made the same point at CPAC during his speech.

”They want him to go away, but let me tell you something, Donald J. Trump ain’t going anywhere,” said Cruz.

Pure 🔥 from @TedCruz pic.twitter.com/29n8JDcJOj

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 26, 2021

The comment came after Cruz talked about the millions of people who support and fought for him, and the left should take note. Cruz is correct, but what the left think Cruz is correct about is deeper than they might anticipate.

Trump may or may not run in 2024 but even if he doesn’t, Trump’s influence on the party is permanent. The left has labeled this as “Trumpism,” but Trump was just a spark that lit the fire.

“Trumpism” isn’t really a thing and the right would be mistaken if it focused on that media-created phrase as well. The attitude we’ve discovered during Trump’s time at the White House is valuable. As I covered more extensively in a video, the right is far more willing to fight back than it used to be. Where once it was polite to the point of passivity, it’s now willing to offend and not just to mock, but to push off political correctness in order to get to the truth.

These are just examples, but this isn’t Trumpism, these are just characteristics of a people unwilling to dance to an off-beat tune, to be willing to speak the truth in the face of anger and possible cancelation.

This isn’t “Trumpism,” it’s just doing what’s necessary to keep our republic. These are characteristics that aren’t unique to Trump, it’s just Republicans and Conservatives getting past mental roadblocks that we’ve been trained to have because polite society required it.

But we don’t live in that society anymore. The vast majority of our debate happens on screens with people separated by miles and miles of distance. There’s no longer a need to be polite, because being rude and confrontational no longer results in serious repercussions in that moment.

We would have morphed our methods with or without Trump. They call that “Trumpism,” but it’s just an attempt at painting the new Republican offensive as a dangerous trend that the right needs to rid itself of because reasons.

In truth, it wants us to stop doing that because the right fighting back by shrugging off political correctness, laughing at people being offended, and generally having a good time doing it, is something the left isn’t very good at fighting back against.

So Cruz is right about when it comes to Trump being around for a while.

Yes, the majority of conservatives will remember Trump fondly. Yes, they will be inspired by his example to always pose real resistance to the left. His mark will even be left in the federal judiciary and in terms of attracting more minorities than any modern Republican presidential candidate.

All of that is true, but Cruz isn’t right because of those things. Cruz is right about Trump because the left won’t let Trump go.

Even the very concept of “Trumpism” is proof positive that Trump is tattooed on the left’s forehead. They will always reference him when talking about inconveniences they face, or whenever an event happens in this country that they deem negative or hurtful.

The majority of the right loves Trump, but the left loves to hate Trump even more. He’s their lodestone for hate, blame, and explanations about why things are going wrong. Anytime a conservative gets a victory or makes a point, they’ll use Trump’s ghost as a way to paint it as evil.

They can’t let Trump go because doing so would strip away one of their reasons for being.