Virtually all those on the Left are outraged or at least cringe when they hear Donald Trump seeking to make America great again. Some, like Andrew Cuomo, AOC, and the Squad, contend that America was never great. Others, such as Kamala Harris, insist it's been great during the Biden/Harris administration. Who knew?
Going back 50 years, here are lavish words about American greatness from Democrat presidents and candidates for president. So, why are they livid when Donald Trump wants to make and keep America great?
Jimmy Carter, 39th President, 1977 to 1981
On July 15, 1976, at the Democratic National Convention in New York, Jimmy Carter said, “I've come here after seeing our great country to accept your nomination.” Later, he said, “I accept it, in the words of John F. Kennedy, with a full and grateful heart and with only one obligation: to devote every effort of body, mind, and spirit to lead our party back to victory and our nation back to greatness.”
He stated, “Ours is the party of a brave young president who called the young at heart, regardless of age, to seek a ‘New Frontier’ of national greatness, John F. Kennedy.
Carter also said, “... knowing that out of this pluralistic heritage has come the strength and the vitality and the creativity that has made us great and will keep us great.
At Carter’s inaugural address on January 20, 1977, he stated, “We have learned that more is not necessarily better, that even our great nation has its recognized limits...”
Bill Clinton, 42nd President, 1993 to 2001
At the DNC in New York on July 16, 1992, Clinton said, “I heard that call clarified by a professor named Carol Quigley, who said to us that America was the greatest Nation in history because our people had always believed in two things -- that tomorrow can be better than today and that every one of us has a personal moral responsibility to make it so.”
With Carter and Clinton, they likely felt America was great. What about those who followed? I doubt them all.
Barack Obama, 44th President, 2009 to 2017
Obama, addressing the DNC in Charlotte on September 06, 2012, said, “We honor the strivers, the dreamers, the risk takers, the entrepreneurs who have always been the driving force behind our free enterprise system, the greatest engine of growth and prosperity that the world's ever known.”
He added, “...Providence is with us, and that we are surely blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation on Earth.” Did he believe this, given his vast weaponization of government against his political opponents and everyday citizens?
In his inaugural address on January 20, 2009, Obama said, “In reaffirming the greatness of our Nation, we understand that greatness is never a given...”
Seeking to succeed Obama, Hillary Clinton, at the DNC in Philadelphia on July 29, 2016, said, “...building a better tomorrow for our beloved children and our beloved country. When we do, America will be greater than ever.”
Joe Biden, 46th President, Installed 2021 to 2025
At the DNC in Milwaukee on August 20, 2020, Biden said, “America’s history tells us that it has been in our darkest moments that we’ve made our greatest progress. That we’ve found the light. And in this dark moment, I believe we are poised to make great progress again.” Sounds a bit like MAGA, heh?
He also said, “As God’s children each of us has a purpose in our lives. And we have a great purpose as a nation.”
At Biden’s inaugural address on January 20, 2021, he couldn’t stop himself. He said, “This is a great nation.” Then, “With unity we can do great things...”
Later in the speech, he said, “The right to dissent peaceably, within the guardrails of our Republic, is perhaps this nation's greatest strength.”
Near the close, he said, “...we will write the next great chapter in the history of the United States of America,” and “... lets us add our own work and prayers to the unfolding story of our great nation.”
Kamala Harris, DNC in Chicago, August 22, 2024
In her own non-word salad, she said, “On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination...”
Soon after, she said, “We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world.” Non-credibly, she added, “And together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.”
Mouthing what they need to get by, from Obama onward, I don’t believe a word of it.