October 7, 2015
By: Linda Case Gibbons
How do you explain the phenomenon that is Donald Trump? It's a question all his critics are asking.
And the answer is simple. We like him. We really like him.
His detractors are curious about his continuing popularity, but mostly they're angry at him for being so successful at their game.
And they can be vicious.
But what they don't see is that "It" is bigger than Donald Trump. It is a movement. And they hate it.
The people have responded to him. You can call it whatever you want. Call it the Silent Majority, but it's real and the pundits don't know how to kill it.
Is it wrong to be riveted to the TV when he's on? To laugh out loud when he is so frank about what's really happening in our country and isn't afraid to say it?
Over the past three months, you can see it. He keeps getting better and better, at speaking out about unpopular issues, the ones other politicians will not touch with a ten-foot pole, at showing us who he is and what he believes.
That's something Hillary Clinton and Obama don't do.
People like his authenticity.
That's something Hillary Clinton and Obama can't do.
And in the love-hate relationship CNN and FOX have with The Donald, they are aware of the benefits his presence brings. That they like.
Their ratings skyrocketed during the GOP debates because every debate question the moderators asked was either directed at him or had his name as part of the question.
It's a love affair of which Democrats, Republicans and the media don't understand nor approve.
So they try to dismiss him as a flash in the pan, an entertainer, but he continues to have the people's support.
They don't know what to make of him. They try the gotcha' questions and he doesn't back down. He answers any and all questions from whomever wants to ask.
He doesn't have to plant people in the audience of his opponents to ask questions, like Jeb.
He doesn't have to rope off reporters so they don't get too close, like Hillary.
And he can interrupt his speeches to reach out to his audiences without losing his place in a teleprompter.
Who is he? What is he? And what is happening to the carefully constructed tool Political Correctness? It's destroyed. It's obsolete. The people are taking back America! Which just makes the nattering nabobs angrier still.
And so, like the man who admired the beauty of the rose so much that he tore off its petals to see what made it beautiful, they tear, tear, tear at him.
But it doesn't work. Despite the stupid questions, Trump is nonplussed and answers without hesitation.
They ask him:
MediaBuzz: "You're the front runner, leading the pack at 25 or 27 or 30. Are you planning to get out of the race?
Don Lemon: Because Trump opposes illegal immigration, "Are you a racist?"
Chris Cuomo: "You support traditional marriage, yet you've been married three times. What do you have to say about that?"
And they hate it that he answers each and every question and comes out on top.
To the Chris Matthews and Megayn Kellys of the world. To the ABC's and CBS's. Whatever you're trying to do to The Donald, we know it, we're watching. And guess what? Your usual ways of knocking people off aren't working.
When you're in his presence, he's like your favorite uncle. The man you like to see walk through the door. He's calm, he's upbeat, he's capable. He inspires. He's having fun and still fielding all the problems "they" throw at him.
This candidate is grounded in the real world and doesn't rate a climate control summit in Paris as more of a priority than Russian President Putin firing missiles into Syria.
No amount of money can made a candidate appealing. Ask Hillary.
No family name can guarantee you'll be a shoo-in for president. Ask Jeb.
No other candidate is financing their campaigns, but Trump is.
It's called putting your money where your mouth is.
Trump is right. This is a movement. And all the pundits, try as they may, can't stop it.
Hold the line, America.