This letter is in response to someone who believed President Trump was a racist, liar and fooled the Christian community. “Donald Trump is and was a poison to our country, and fooled the Christian base with lies and deceptions! Jesus would never use such a man to promote his gospel. Yes, he helped get some things accomplished, so take it and run and not promote this man or his agenda of hate, lies and racism. We are to be examples of Christ’s message, not this mockery of Christ’s words!”
My response: I don’t believe Trump was “a poison to our country and fooled” anyone, let alone the Christian base. Perhaps you’re speaking of yourself as being fooled. That isn’t intended to be an unkind remark. I don’t know you and perhaps you were “fooled.” God has used world leaders since the beginning of time to “promote his gospel.” He used two Egyptian pharaohs, Thotmes II (Moses’s years 1-40 app.) and Thotmes III (Moses’s years 40-80+). God used the judges, King Saul, King David, King Solomon, and when the Israelites were taken into captivity, Nebuchadnezzar. Herod definitely was used, along with the Caesars, and especially General Titus in 70 AD regarding the prophesied dispersal of the Jews.
On Nov. 8, 2016, we elected President Trump, not a pope or pastor. Candidate Trump made promises that he would support life (against abortion), lower taxes, relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, reduce regulations, build the Keystone pipeline, rebuild the wall between Mexico and the U.S. (Mexico didn’t cut a check to the U.S. but paid dearly economically in protecting their side of the border and loss of economic business), change economic relations with other nations, especially China, and use tariffs to bring back a normalcy to unfair trade practices, ended NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and created a more fair and just trade agreement with Canada and Mexico (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), met with Kim Jong Un and bridled North Korea’s ICBM missle project, founded the U.S. Space Force, ended our relationship with the Paris climate accord, brought back manufacturing to the U.S., making America first versus globalism.
The result was the lowest U.S. unemployment we’ve seen in over 50 years, since 1969. Trump increased Hispanic, Black and Asian employment. He brought the majority of our troops back home without starting one senseless war. When was the last time you heard of ISIS? He solved that problem also, as promised. He ended the Iranian/U.S. nuclear agreement and killed the No. 2 Iranian leader, Abu Mohammed al-Masri, who personally organized attacks against our U.S. embassies and killed U.S. troops in the Middle East.
President Trump spoke in what many consider a crude manner (personally, I liked his candid expressions), yet was transparent in all his dealings. He brought the press into his cabinet meetings on live TV. He spoke to and answered the press’s questions more than the last three administrations combined, 24 years.
Oh, and I almost forgot, not just one vaccine but two vaccines being created to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and being administered through the state governments before the end of his administration. Who lied when they said Trump couldn’t do that?
Was he perfect? You and I know he wasn’t. Just ask his wife Melania, who I believe was not only the most beautiful first lady in quite some time, but the most elegant and accomplished first lady without grabbing onto her husband’s limelight.
Was he a liar and a racist? Hardly. If you want to accuse a president of lying, perhaps you should consider “read my lips” George H.W. Bush, “I did not have sexual relations” Bill Clinton and “If you like your health care and your doctor, you can keep” Barack Hussein Obama first.
Trump had more women and minorities in his cabinet than previous presidents. His eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, married a Jew, Jared Kushner, and converted to the Jewish faith. Who led the way in creating three peace agreements with Muslim countries and Israel in less than a year? President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
I firmly believe the only way to beat Trump in his bid for reelection in 2020 was to cheat; and cheat they did. As was said of the 1960 presidential election, “you cheated fair and square.”
We now have President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris in the White House. What did candidate Joe Biden promise? The only thing he promised was that he wouldn’t be Trump. I firmly believe he’ll accomplish that promise. It is what it is.
Republicans and conservative independents need to get to work. I hope you will join us in electing conservative Republicans and independents to political office, not to an ecclesiastical office.
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Steve Yoder is a resident of Wailua Homesteads and chair of the Republican Party on Kaua‘i.
