This changes everything; Congressman Duncan Hunter endorses Trump for President:
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) told POLITICO on Wednesday that he will support Trump for the Republican nomination, making him one of the first members of Congress to express public support for the Manhattan businessman who is the prohibitive front-runner after his victory in Tuesday’s Nevada caucuses.
Also on Wednesday, Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) told The Buffalo News that he is backing Trump, saying he has the “guts and fortitude” to get jobs back from China and to take on foreign threats such as the Islamic State and North Korea.
In an interview on Wednesday, Hunter told POLITICO that Trump has the strength needed for the job. “We don’t need a policy wonk as president. We need a leader as president,” Hunter said, adding that he has told his colleagues much of the same thing. “I’m in, and I’ve been in,” he said in a telephone interview.
Trump has received no support from establishment Republicans. In fact, many conservative media have come out against his candidacy, claiming that he lacks conservative credentials would compromise principles, and for supporting the Obamacare mandate.
House speaker Paul Ryan denounced Trump’s rhetoric a few months ago. Candidates Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and Rand Paul continually made the case that Trump wasn’t a true conservative.
Ideology notwithstanding, Trump leads the delegate count, after the Nevada caucuses with 84 delegates. Rubio and Cruz are tied for second with 19 delegates a piece.
Hunter’s endorsement may be genuine or it might be the first signal that DC Republicans have accepted Trump as the presumptive nominee and are scrambling to get on the winning team. It wouldn’t be the first time this happened.
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Gee, up to now I thought Duncan was okay.
What does he see in that arrogant bastard.
I left trump when he said he could buy anyone, that let me know that he could also be bought.
Extremely disappointing, to say the least. Who, I wonder, does Hunter think Trump really is? Just a lewd person with a hideous haircut? Not that the first quality wouldn’t have been more than enough for earlier generations of (real) conservatives to reject him outright, and they certainly would’ve.
But most of us know there’s a lot more to object than just that. Not only is Trump not conservative in any way, shape or form, he also displays deeply disturbing similarities with some of the most notorious figures of the last century.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/opinion/campaign-stops/is-donald-trump-a-fascist.html
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That was a good article, Craig; I like Douthat. I also liked his three reasons not to “freak out at fascism claims”, especially this:
“Finally, freaking out over Trump-the-fascist is a good way for the political class to ignore the legitimate reasons he’s gotten this far — the deep disaffection with the Republican Party’s economic policies among working-class conservatives, the reasonable skepticism about the bipartisan consensus favoring ever more mass low-skilled immigration, the accurate sense that the American elite has misgoverned the country at home and abroad.”
This really is the reason Trump is rising fast; The Republican Party abandoned those “Reagan Democrats”. The Democratic Party abandoned them 40 years ago which is why Reagan got them but the GOP blew an opportunity to make them ours forever.
Trump’s tariffs ideas are nuts, Trump’s reliance on “The Right Man Can” is downright scary, and Trump’s aggressive, machismo is really the hallmark of a “Dear Leader” but there are not black or brown-shirted brigades breaking the windows of America’s Main Streets…yet.
I kind of see why Hunter endorsed him. Hunter never struck me as one of the “good ol’ boys” in Congress. He has a few important issues and he sticks to those. Moreover, while the good ol’ boys are sipping martinis in Georgetown, he’s drinking beer at a sports bar watching MNF.
Is Trump a fascist? I don’t think he has an ideological bone in his body but he certainly follows the Benito model in his campaign. Does that make Hunter a “useful idiot” for endorsing him? Absolutely not. I think Hunter desperately wants to stand up and say “eliminate ISIS, secure the damned border, and stop killing babies in the womb”. Right now, Trump seems like the only one that’s going to help him do that.
Thanks, Brian. I wish I were as sanguine about Hunter’s motives–regardless of what he drinks and where. But it looks to me like he–for reasons I would love to hear him (attempt) to justify–is eager to hitch his wagon to Trump’s shoddy horse before it pulls out of town.
“Unprincipled” and/or “ignorant” are the two words that his decision first brings to mind.
This is going to be hilarious when Trump dumps all pretense of any conservative positions after he gets the nomination and dumb Duncan is left carrying water for a liberal Democrat.
He has the guts to get back the jobs that the yellow and brown people stole from us ? Don’t you remember when virtually all conservatives were “Free Traders”? These jobs were not taken, they were given away.
Paul Therrio — Soooo, YOU want to restrict MY right to buy products from people who aren’t white Americans? THAT’s what restrictions on free trade are all about — YOU telling ME who I can buy from and sell to. It’s not about “stealing,” it’s about choice.
Is THAT what the GOP stands for these days? Maybe so.
In order for Trump or Hunter to improve and reform the United States economy they would need to demonstrate understanding and commitment to some basic ideas that surpass those currently governing. It would require a radically new approach. While Trump has demonstrated success in commercial real estate that success did not require knowledge of the origin of a productive economy. We shouldn’t confuse the two.
As for Hunter, he still thinks WWII rescued us from the Great Depression (at least that is what he told a fawning CRA audience in Lakeside in 2012). Remember Hunter is the one who voted in November that Washington knows better than the states when it came to an amendment on the 325B highway funding bill that would have let states decide whether they want to allow heavier trucks on their roads. Hunter and Washington know best. Screw limited government and the 10th Amendment.
Every dollar Hunter votes to increase the unsustainable debt burden on San Diego families is one less dollar available to the private sector for job creation. We can buy more guns and ammo to sustain global power or we can begin upholding inalienable rights and pursuing happiness in our own backyards.
These two (Trump and Hunter) have something in common, a disregard for the ideas of Jefferson and Madison. By an early endorsement of Trump, Hunter creates a political opportunity he couldn’t hope for with Cruz or Rubio – a cabinet position in the defense department.
Credulous Americans think Trump “tells it like it is” and (God help us…) will do “whatever it takes to get the job done.” Reality suggests otherwise.
https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/02/25/donald-trump-champion-of-foreign-workers-in-america/
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“Hunter creates a political opportunity he couldn’t hope for with Cruz or Rubio – a cabinet position in the defense department.”
Oh Bravo! I missed that; I thought it was simply this:
“Hunter’s endorsement may be genuine or it might be the first signal that DC Republicans have accepted Trump as the presumptive nominee and are scrambling to get on the winning team. It wouldn’t be the first time this happened.”
I’m convinced Trump has the nomination now and watching how it all plays out– I thought that’s what most DC Republicans were doing as well. This endorsement may just be a resume builder.
If DDH starts saying “#MakeAmericaGreatAgain” in his speeches, your suspicion may prove true
I take no credit for this one. All credit goes to one of our friends who brought this to my attention yesterday. As I have demonstrated many embarrassing times my political naivete runs deep and is way too simple.
Brian Brady you are right.
It looks inevitable, short of an incitement that Trump will get the nod. now what?
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“now what?”
Sit back and watch