While President Joe Biden repeatedly stumbled and misfired during a White House appearance with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on April 10, during the same day, former President Donald Trump entertained customers and employees alike during a visit to an Atlanta Chick-fil-A.
“I don’t care what the media tells you, Mr. Trump, we support you!” pic.twitter.com/q49RpivIbD
— Margo Martin (@margommartin) April 10, 2024
Trump orders 30 milkshakes at a Chick-fil-A in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/Uz0zMLoVQb
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 10, 2024
To slightly paraphrase Rod Serling: imagine, if you will, Biden attempting such a visit without forgetting where he was, lying, or getting into an argument.
Neither can I.
One of the advantages I had in being born and raised in California, aside from the weather, was that I had the privilege of having Ronald Reagan as my governor. Looking back on those days, while the media then was slightly more adept at hiding its liberal bias than is the present case, there was a begrudging acknowledgment of what the world would soon learn. Reagan was the Great Communicator.
No one delivered a speech with his panache. He could take complicated topics and, without minimizing them, make them easily understandable, which, given that his turn in Sacramento started when I was in grade school and ended when I was a freshman in high school, was greatly appreciated. Reagan was equally at ease speaking off the cuff, quick with a quip, and fast on his feet.
While no one will mistake Trump’s ofttimes rambling stream-of-consciousness approach to Reagan’s polished banter, the effect is similar, likely surprising those unable to discern how substance and style are not always parallel. Trump connects with the common man in a manner unlike any current politician. While he enjoys celebrity’s inherent advantages and works them to full effect, this alone does not explain his appeal.
Trump’s gift is speaking to people on their level about their concerns. He has mastered the art of serving as an identifiable individual, not in the cartoonish Biden, “you ain’t black” manner but as someone who offers empathy with the working class despite being a billionaire himself. He and his campaign reach people without judgment, instead offering a message of genuine inclusion, and of an America in which all, not solely those allegedly marginalized groups feted by liberals with their varying degrees of self-aggrandizement masked as oppression, can flourish.
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The progressives believe themselves to be our betters. They’re not. Donald Trump, even with his high self-opinion, understands that politics is we and not me. He can walk into a fast food restaurant and easily engage with anyone present, something the Hillary Clintons and Joe Bidens of this world cannot accomplish no matter how they try. The pundits and political dogs bark, but the Trump caravan moves on unaffected by their yapping.
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