COMMENTARY: Trump has made the GOP great again
For Democrats and their weeping soulmates in liberal media, it’s “Mourning in America.” Not morning – M-O-U-R-N-I-N-G.
But for those of us who voted for Donald Trump, it feels like the opening line of my father’s famous TV campaign commercial — “It’s morning again in America.”
The message of Ronald Reagan’s 1984 ad — considered one of the greatest political spots ever — was that after four tough years in office his policies had fixed America and restored the country to greatness.
I’m obviously feeling terrific about Trump’s defeat of Kamala Harris and I’m not feeling at all sorry for her or her red-eyed supporters. Some die-hard Democrats and permanently deranged talking heads on CNN and MSNBC are already doubling down on their hate and vowing to fight, fight, fight against President Trump II. But the only thing they are proving is that they didn’t learn any lessons from Trump’s sweeping victory and still don’t understand why their candidate lost.
It was not only because Harris had no political message of her own except a negative one — that Trump was a threat to our democracy and his MAGA supporters were garbage. It was not only because Harris spoke in platitudes, hid from unfriendly media and unconditionally defended the Biden administration’s failed border and economic policies.
Harris also lost because she ran a campaign that was so angry and nasty that many Republicans were forced to take a second look at Trump and accept him despite his personal flaws and narcissism.
As a Reagan conservative, I was not in favor of Trump running for president as a Republican. I basically told him that one day back in 2015, when he called me on the phone to ask me something about appearing on my radio talk show. (He was not aware that I was no longer doing it.)
Trump ultimately destroyed the Romney-Ryan-Bush Republican Party of 2015 in many ways, just as I though he would. I think a lot of smart people foresaw the destruction part of the GOP, but I don’t think anybody foresaw the positive rebuilding part that has followed.
With his historic political comeback and his MAGA movement, Trump has created the Republican Party of the future. He’s built a new coalition that includes Americans who have never really been admitted to the GOP’s big tent — blue-collar workers, Blacks and Latinos.
Plus, he’s put together a multipartisan all-star team that includes Elon Musk, internet giants such as Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson, and exiled Democrats like RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard.
Trump did destroy the old Republican Party. But now, thanks to his big win last week, the new GOP he’s built will be in a strong position to fix the many things Joe Biden has broken.
Republicans have got the White House, the Senate and it looks like they’ll keep the House.
President Trump’s main job for the next four years is to maintain and grow its new coalition — and to finish his mission to make America great again.
Michael Reagan, the son of President Ronald Reagan, is an author, speaker and president of the Reagan Legacy Foundation. Follow on X @reaganworld.