For most, Donald Trump winning the 2016 election was a great day. To others, it was just another ordinary day. And for liberals, it was Armageddon. The frothing at the mouth over his win, which still continues today, is seen in the reactions from pundits from the Left, left wing celebrities, and especially the members of the liberal media. Take MSNBC’s Joy Reid, who said earlier this month in an interview with New York Magazine that it’s “the worst time to be a human” because Trump is president. Tim Graham of Newsbusters took notice and dissected the magazine’s interview with Reid; Josef Adalian conducted the interview. Oh, and while books have become the topic of discussion with Hillary Clinton’s whine tour regarding her What Happened rampage, if Reid wanted to push out a literary work—it would deal with how conservatives want to repeal the 20th century, or something:
ADALIAN: There has to be some irony here for you. You were obviously doing very well before the 2016 campaign, but that election season and the subsequent elevation of Trump to the presidency have actually been incredible for your career. AM Joy is setting ratings records for MSNBC. You’re reaching twice as many viewers as you did before, probably, and you’re connecting to them on a very deep level. And yet you’re clearly not very happy about where the country has been heading. Is there a mixed-emotion type thing going on for you?
REID: I’ve said to people that this is probably the greatest time to be a journalist, and the worst time to be a human. I’m grateful for the platform that I have. I was grateful for it before, when it was much smaller. I think because this election was so unusual, and because I kind of am a stand-in for my viewers — I can be shocked on their behalf — that made people connect with me more. I’m an opinion journalist, so I don’t have to pretend not to be shocked and appalled. I can actually be shocked and appalled. [Italics in the original.] So it’s kind of played to my strength in a way.
[…]
I kind of want to write about this drive on the right to just repeal the 20th century. The 20th century so shook the right wing in this country that they can’t give up on getting rid of the real totems of the 20th century — the guaranteed retirement income, guaranteed health care, voting rights. Those items that made the 20th century work are what Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and company are still trying to get rid of. They’re still fighting it!
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Well, I guess we can give Reid some points for admitting, unlike others in the media, that she’s biased and, therefore, doesn’t have to hide her distaste for Trump. I mean, the fact that she works for MSNBC was a big enough clue, but hey—at least she’s honest in that regard. Yet, her reaction to the whole election also shows why Trump won and why he’ll most likely win again due to the overreach. Surely, there are areas of debate concerning the Republican policy agenda, but they want to repeal the 20th century? Seriously? I don’t know if Reid knows this, but single-payer health care is a mixed bag. Voters have shown it. Even NBC News’ own poll has it drop to 36 percent approval once you tell people it would gut their health insurance plans for a government-run one. No one disagrees on voter ID laws. That’s the great myth that this is controversial—it’s not. Very healthy majorities of Americans—liberal, conservative, Democratic, Republican, white, and nonwhite—agree you should have to show identification in order to vote. Also, Trump’s personality may get low marks, on policy and governing, it’s a different picture. For example, CNN reported a few numbers that show Trump scores high marks on disaster relief/management and the improving economy. There’s a reason why some Democrats are worried that their party is heading for the cliff again in 2018— and they’re telling their own rank-and-file that Trump’s general approval ratings isn’t indicative of much politically. They see the party heading for the wall again, as Trump becomes truly the Teflon Don—incapable of being hurt by any attack the Left has hurled at him so far. What compounds matters is the fact that the Left has no message, agenda, or leader. They’re just anti-Trump, which so far, has proven not to be enough to win elections. Here are the numbers CNN highlighted:
People like his response to the hurricanes Irma and Harvey. Two-thirds of people (64%) in the CNN poll approved of the "federal government's response to recent hurricanes" including 44% (!) of Democrats.
People are getting more confident in the economy. In the CNN poll, 63% said the thought the economic conditions in the country were either "very" (10%) or "somewhat" (53%) good. That's a major rise in confidence since even last summer, when just 45% said the same.
The debt ceiling deal Trump cut with congressional Democrats was very popular with voters. Seven in 10 in the NBC-WSJ poll approved of the deal -- 30 points higher than the next most popular thing Trump has done.
There's a blueprint here for future Trump success (or, at least, improvement): Talk relentlessly about the economy and jobs, be an effective manager in crisis and continue to work with Democrats to make deals when it makes sense to do so.
Well, speaking very generally—that’s what Trump campaigned on in 2016; that’s a 35,000-foot view of Trumpism.
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