It is well known that the ability to overcome obstacles is a component of success, regardless of the profession. Everyone knows that. However, not everyone has the means to accomplish it. You don’t have the means to get it done without being daunted by the curveballs life throws at you.
As President Trump’s new term begins, I continue to think about this life lesson. From the perspective of a few years ago, a very unlikely event.
Talk about your disability. The end of the Trump era and the arrival of President Joe Biden was a low point for the outgoing president. It was a time of recounts and censures, cabinet resignations and negative press coverage, and even post-election impeachment. And, of course, the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, the shocking final chapter for Trump, 45.
The resulting bad press and historically low approval ratings led even die-hard MAGA types to question the validity of Trump’s return four years later.
And then more obstacles appeared. The FBI famously raided Mar-a-Lago (including Melania Trump’s plain clothes area for free), which ushered in federal indictments for alleged mishandling of classified documents.
A second federal indictment followed, led by Jack Smith, this time related to the so-called “insurrection” of January 6th. And there were two additional (state) indictments by an avowedly anti-Trump district attorney. No politician can bear the combined weight of all the legal issues, right?
But law enforcement fired more arrows. This time, attorneys general and secretaries of state from blue states are seeking to ban former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot, and their efforts include continuing legal challenges to photo ID requirements for voters. It was accompanied by challenges and the cleansing of voter rolls to prevent ineligible/illegal votes. .
After that, two assassination attempts occurred within four months. [still] Unexplained gross negligence by what is supposed to be the world’s preeminent protective security detail.
All the while, the Biden administration’s Justice Department was engaged in a speech control initiative that sought to blackmail social media platforms into conforming to the administration’s preferred (anti-Trump) narrative. Here, opposing views were dismissed as “disinformation,” a particularly cynical effort to chill free speech.
Unfortunately, this suppression effort was particularly successful in calling into question the (Trump-supporting) coronavirus lab leak theory and perpetuating the ridiculous but always useful Trump-Russia fallacy.
What’s more, anti-MAGA groups on both coasts of America, self-proclaimed cultural value creators, never let up as the usual suspects remained (crazy) focused on the Orange threat from Queens. I didn’t show it.
This cycle, Hollywood’s team of Trump haters, including but not limited to Mrs. dicapriolegend, ruffaloand an out-of-control De Niro — joined by the ever-presents oprah, Eva LongoriaJane Fonda, and the newly minted 23-year-old Snow White herself – actress Rachel Zegler (“Four more years of hate”, then retracted).
But the list of anti-Trump activists would not be complete without traditional and official media criticizing the Republican Party, especially Donald Trump, as usual. This cycle’s tally: 78% positive coverage of Harris, compared to 85% negative coverage of Trump (by Media Research Center) — Many MAGA types are wondering when and where the 15% positive report took place, but…
So the next time life loops, remember the obstacles Donald Trump had to face. Relentlessly demonized by legacy media, targeted by a weaponized Justice Department, accused of being a Russian asset, and prosecuted in the states. And federal courts have assessed unprecedented civil penalties, made him the target of two assassination attempts (one of which nearly killed him), and repeated attempts to remove him from the presidential ballot. became the focus of
Winston Churchill once famously observed: “You’ll never get to your destination if you stop and throw rocks at every dog that barks.” Fortunately, Donald Trump wasn’t deterred by the army of barking dogs either. Instead, obstacles turned into opportunities. A life lesson for America will benefit from one man’s determined resilience, no matter the enormous obstacles that stand in his way.
Bob Ehrlich is a former Maryland Governor, Congressman, and State Representative. He is the author of five books on American politics, as well as opinion pieces published in major American newspapers and periodicals. He and his wife Kendel can be heard on their weekly podcast, “Bottom Line with Bob & Kendel Ehrlich.”
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