On mute, Trump’s actions speak for him
WASHINGTON — The “mute” button at the second presidential debate worked wonders. And its success provokes an interesting thought experiment: How would the Trump presidency be seen with a mute button on?
President Donald Trump says a lot of things that dismay even his supporters. But what if we turned off our TVs, stopped looking at Twitter and looked at what he has done in office over the past four years? With the sound off, Trump’s is one of the greatest conservative presidencies in modern American history. Consider the record:
His victory over Hillary Clinton stopped Democrats from replacing Antonin Scalia with a liberal activist, saving the Supreme Court’s conservative majority. He appointed three new justices and had 200+ judges confirmed to the lower courts.
He signed the first comprehensive tax reform in three decades; scrapped the Trans-Pacific Partnership that advantaged China and brokered new trade deals with Mexico, Canada, Japan and
South Korea. Before COVID-19, unemployment reached record lows. And in the midst of a pandemic-induced economic crisis, 56% of Americans say they are better off now than 4 years ago.
Trump delivered for African Americans, passing criminal justice reform, creating opportunity zones to rebuild our inner cities and securing permanent funding for historically black colleges.
He signed opioid and sex-trafficking legislation, and a new “Right to Try” law giving dying Americans access to experimental medications. He implemented the Protect Life Rule and has defended religious liberty.
He made the United States an energy superpower — getting rid of President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, and supplanting Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer. And he is the first president since Ronald Reagan not to start a new war.
Even his covid-19 response looks a lot better with the mute button on.
As troubling as some of Trump’s words are, his actions matter more. And by that standard, the Trump presidency is among the best of my lifetime — with the mute button on.