newYou can now listen to Fox News articles.
If you’re torn between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, consider the current vice president’s past affairs with Breckinridge Long and Rima Ann Nelson.
The only major “known unknown” that is sure to influence some votes in this campaign is President Trump’s choice of running mate. My long-standing opinion is that the second place candidate doesn’t matter much.
But, but, but…this year, due to age and what seems obvious to me and most people in America, namely President Biden’s increasing frailty, there is even more attention on Vice President Harris, and therefore her and President Trump. There will likely be increased attention to the contrast in the candidates’ choices for running for office. mate. Developer Trump is no stranger to contrast and its visual power. This future “contrast” also has enormous political power. Mr. Trump would benefit most from choosing a running mate who contrasts most sharply with Ms. Harris in terms of her intelligence and stature.
Harris’ appalling weaknesses as a candidate and often vexing public statements as vice president stand in clear contrast to her not only in basic intellectual ability but also in the general category of “seriousness of purpose.” He is strongly insisting that President Trump choose his vice presidential candidate.
For more FOX News opinions, click here
I have long advocated for a military veteran like Tom Cotton, Joni Ernst, Sen. J.D. Vance, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to be President Trump’s running mate. There are other names like Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and former National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien (whose LDS votes in Arizona and Nevada were a problem), but the basic idea and responsibilities are It’s obvious. Compare that to the often-laughing, usually incoherent Vice President.
Such a choice will be made in the fall, with the cooperation of the Chinese Communist Party led by General Secretary Xi Jinping, its evil allies in Russia and Iran, and those who understand that the second government will be the Republican Party. It will also serve as a signal to the expansion of the Trump administration. “Threat states” such as Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela, as well as Iran’s many proxies such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, pose a real and enduring danger to the United States and its allies.
Hugh Hewitt: Name VEEP now.
If the election is close, having a veteran running alongside him who represents the next generation of leadership could help Trump considerably. (Cotton is 46 years old, Ernst is 53 years old, Vance is 39 years old, and Pompeo is 60 years old.) Most importantly, each of these veterans and a few others know the world and that is a truly malevolent actor and has the experience to deal with our real evil. overseas enemy. Vice President Harris, by contrast, has proven completely incapable of distinguishing between friend and foe, and is particularly weak in confronting Iranian puppets and supporting Israel.
In addition to choosing a running mate, Team Trump has the opportunity to deliver a message about Trump’s entire future team. While we never forget that for most voters the election is a Trump vs. Biden issue, for independents the reality of 2024 is the growing threat of evil regimes around the world, a collapsed southern border, and flooding. This means that they are on alert for a domestic disaster. Factor in fentanyl use, the cumulative strain on families from inflation, and a spike in crime in many areas, and the roughly 3,000 political appointees accompanying the president to his inauguration should weigh heavily on voters’ minds. So back to Long and Nelson.
Breckinridge Long was a State Department appointee under Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt. Long was also a “country club anti-Semite” who worked overtime to prevent Jews fleeing Hitler from entering our country in the late 1930s and early ’40s. Long was a character in Herman Wouk’s War and the Winds of Remembrance (and played by Eddie Albert in the television miniseries based on the book), who closed the door on desperate people. His continuing role is also well documented by journalists in his hometown of St. Louis.
I was reminded of Long this week by a proclamation by Department of Veterans Affairs subordinates ordering the removal of “The Kiss,” the iconic photo of a sailor and nurse in Times Square, from all VA facilities. It was when I released the. Lima Ann Nelson, VA’s assistant secretary for health operations, issued a Feb. 29 petition calling for the photo’s immediate removal, claiming the photo “violates VA’s zero-tolerance policy against sexual harassment and assault.” I sent you a note. Veterans Affairs Secretary Dennis McDonough quickly reversed Nelson’s arduous decision, but the case underscores that the federal government is vast and now deeply ideological across its broad swathes. That’s true.
Long and Nelson disobeyed the president’s orders. Their president may not have ever known about the decisions they were making on his behalf. They were exercising power as they saw fit, exercising power as they saw fit.
This often happens at the presidential and cabinet levels and below. There are thousands of people in every administration making tens of thousands of decisions that affect you and your family. The key to victory for Trump and the Republican Party this fall is to make voters face up to the fact that the Democratic Party is leaning far to the left on every issue, but weakening Israel after 10/7 is the most important thing for voters who know about Israel. This is on a par with the allies the United States has, which is one of our concerns.
The 3,000 people accompanying the president are almost as important as Biden and Trump to fight this permanent government and overcome the fences around Long, like Nelson and many others in this era. The more voters know that Trump will be flanked by serious people from every government agency that has simply failed over the last three years, the more likely they are to hesitantly choose Trump. becomes higher. It is becoming clearer each day that the power of Team Biden is driven by a very radical ideology coming from the left wing of the Democratic Party.
Friends and Israel in particular need to have a “Come to Jesus” rally with themselves and their families and friends, as President Biden has so appallingly put it. It is, in fact, a binary choice between Biden and Trump, best illustrated by the vastly different teams attached to either man on the issue of support for the Jewish state. Israelis do not want innocent Palestinians to die, and they and their friends in the US are sick to death of hearing Biden/Harris suggest otherwise.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
If Trump wins, Ambassador David Friedman will likely return to Israel, bringing serious people back to the top of the national security pyramid, including Defense, State, the CIA, and the Office of the National Security Advisor. Now Americans (and Israelis) can feel more at ease not only about the man in the White House, but also about the job currently held by the Long Nelson family today.
Mr. Trump should win easily, but he needs to help important segments of the electorate understand the fundamental choices they face. That starts with choosing a running mate who outperforms Vice President Harris in terms of intelligence and experience.
Hugh Hewitt is one of the country’s leading centre-right journalists. A son of Ohio State and a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Michigan Law School, Mr. Hewitt has been a professor of law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996, teaching constitutional law. Hewitt started his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990, and it is now syndicated to hundreds of stations and stations across the United States every Monday through Friday morning. Hewitt frequently appears on every major national news television network, hosts television programs on PBS and MSNBC, writes for every major American newspaper, has written 12 books, and has written for numerous Republican candidates. He has moderated debates, most recently moderating the November 2023 Republican presidential debate. He participated in four Republican presidential debates in Miami and 2015-2016. Hewitt focuses his radio show and this column on the Constitution, national security, American politics, the Cleveland Browns and the Guardians. Over his 40 years on the air, Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests, from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republicans George W. Bush and President Donald Trump. This column previews the major stories driving today’s radio programming.
Click here to read more articles by Hugh Hewitt