The right needs to remember that this is bigger than Trump

The right needs to remember that this is bigger than Trump

A fractious conservative movement needs to remember that what's happening now isn't all about Donald Trump.

January 11, 2021
By Matt Rowe

Too many people are conflating "Trumpers" with the entire right or with conservatives and even with Republicans as if they were all the same thing. It's one thing when the left does this, but we need to be clear that the "right" is a mixture of groups with similar beliefs but distinct differences that must be understood. What matters is that we on the right all face a herculean struggle between capitalism and socialism, and between strict construction of the Constitution and judicial activism, and a host of other threats to the Republic.
In the lead-up to the 2016 election, there were a lot of "NeverTrumps." Most of them came to realize that the choice in 2016 was really between corruption and socialism on the one hand and capitalism and the rule of law on the other. It was a case of electing the same old self-entitled establishment vassal, or someone who, as far as they knew, was from well outside the Beltway. They didn't like it, but they voted for Trump.
By the 2020 election, after seeing everything the left had done to destroy President Trump, and seeing what he had accomplished despite that, they came to respect his accomplishments, though not necessarily his behavior. They were "Reluctant Trumpers," if you will.
The true "Trumpers" saw Trump as the only man to stand up to the system. He was an outsider like them and gave them a political voice they hadn't had in a long time. He said things the way they would like to say them, even if some of those things were ridiculous and immature. His comments and tweets conveyed the sense of frustration people felt or, at least, were a good jab at someone they didn't agree with, especially in the overwhelming climate of identity politics, fake news, fact-checkers, and political correctness.

Reluctant Trumpers quickly learned to ignore the silly things President Trump said, realizing that he didn't necessarily believe them himself. It appears that the left took him at his word or, for calculating reasons, tried hard to do so.
And there were the "Straight Ticket Trumpers," too, who simply voted Republican no matter what.
These are the people who make up the majority of the right, and a half-million of these people attended the Capital Rally on January 6. Each of these groups can be further broken down, but we need not go into that except to point out that, in the vast crowd, the bell curve dictates that, within those Trump subgroups, there were going to be small numbers of extremists, along with moderates. It was a very small group of the extremists who rushed the Capitol, likely followed by a few more moderate people who didn't stop and think in the midst of the excitement.
The newly emboldened Democrats, the socialist left, and their media supporters are attempting to convince the world that all of these groups are really one big fanatical cult that worships their evil lord, Donald Trump. They want you to believe, as they do, that some 80 million Americans are even worse than "deplorables," which is pretty bad all by itself. Among other things, "deplorable" means "worthy of severe condemnation or reproach, and wretched."
The leftist collective now believes we are all awful "Trump Cultists" who are racist, homophobic, chauvinistic, and delusional, and the left is organizing its resources to hold us all accountable à la AOC. Some, like ABC News director Rick Klein have even suggested they "cleanse" us from the political (if not the actual) world.
Although the unity of the right is important, especially if we are to stand up to the socialist storm that is about to hit us, it is critical to understand that it has very little to do with Trump the man. Rather, we must remember that the struggle is against political and corporate corruption, socialism, judicial activism, and the identity politics the left uses to subvert our government to their own ends. And never forget our vital need to ensure that the election process is transparent and true!
We must maintain our unity around defending the Constitution, our election processes, and returning to our formerly more perfect union. We need everyone on the right to stand up together and, under the banner of the Constitution and the rule of law, take action as Trump did. We must drive forward for the sake of the nation and not for any one man. It is growing dark — the storm is close.

The right needs to remember that this is bigger than Trump - American Thinker