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The Businessman vs. The Bureaucrat: Debate Prep for Donald Trump

In the first (and likely only) debate today, President Biden is likely to pepper Donald Trump with his refusal to accept the result of the 2020 election. And, of course, Biden will attempt to tie Trump to all of the January 6 business.

Trump has to have a ready answer. Actually, there are two kinds of answers Trump can parry with.

The first is to name some of the Democrats who have refused to accept the results of elections. There are too many to mention them all during the debate.

In 2016, Democrat Representative Jamie Raskin claimed the 2016 election of Trump was “badly tainted by everything from cyber-sabotage by Vladimir Putin to deliberate voter suppression by Republicans in numerous swing states.” Ha! We now know all that “Putin” business was just a Hillary Clinton dirty trick.

Democrat Congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis boycotted Trump’s inauguration, saying that he did not “see this president-elect as a legitimate president.”

Hillary Clinton (of the Russia-collusion hoax!) has repeatedly questioned Trump’s electoral legitimacy and, to this day, has never accepted it.

There are dozens of other instances, but time will be limited.

Trump’s second parry is to bring up all the times Biden has refused to obey the law.

Biden attempted to forgive half a trillion dollars in student loans, knowing he didn’t have that power. The Supreme Court shut that operation down. And now he’s trying again!

In January 2022, Biden required workers at large companies to be vaccinated or to wear masks and be tested for COVID weekly. The Supreme Court struck down that proposal too, ruling that it exceeded the president’s administrative authority.

When the Supreme Court decided the Dobbs abortion case, an angry mob protested outside the homes of some of the justices—which is against the law. Did Biden’s Justice Department make any arrests? Of course not.

Back in August 2021, Biden, pandering to his assumed constituents, extended a federal moratorium on housing evictions issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an action no one, apparently including Biden, thought he had the power to do. The Supreme Court struck down the extension.

After Trump lists those dictatorial actions, he should segue into the fact that Biden has spent his entire career working for the government. He represents the bureaucrats Reagan had in mind with his famous quip about three government rules: “If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it.” The viewers will love the Reagan reprise.

Trump should look at Biden and say, “You’re the candidate of the bureaucrats. I’m the candidate of working people—people who have to meet a payroll, people who suffer under a mountain of federal regulations.”

Then he should say, “Your problem, Mr. President, is that for the last 50 years—50 years!—you’ve never held a real job. That’s why you have so little in common with working Americans. You’ve never been on the receiving end of a regulation. You have no idea at all what most Americans have to live with. You’re just a bureaucrat at heart.”

Those are all valid issues and far more important to most Americans than New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s lawfare convictions.

And in Trump’s summary at the end of the debate—he gets the last word—he can revisit the theme: Biden’s a bureaucrat and thus at odds (and at war?) with working Americans.

Those are substantive issues the voting public should contemplate. Do they want a businessman who understands them—or a bureaucrat who doesn’t?

Daniel Oliver is Chairman of the Board of the Education and Research Institute and a Director of Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy in San Francisco. In addition to serving as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission under President Reagan, he was Executive Editor and subsequently Chairman of the Board of William F. Buckley Jr.’s National Review.

Email Daniel Oliver at Daniel.Oliver@TheCandidAmerican.com.

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About Daniel Oliver

Daniel Oliver is chairman of the board of the Education and Research Institute and a director of the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy in San Francisco. In addition to serving as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission under President Reagan, he was executive editor and subsequently chairman of the board of William F. Buckley Jr.’s National Review. Email him at Daniel.Oliver@TheCandidAmerican.com.

Photo: Banners are placed outside of CNN studios ahead of the first presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia on June 24, 2024. Two years after the US Supreme Court stripped constitutional protections for abortion, the explosive issue will feature prominently in Thursday's debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump -- with the Republican under pressure not to alienate voters. (Photo by CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA / AFP) (Photo by CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA/AFP via Getty Images)

Notable Replies

  1. If Trump can stay disciplined, he will handily win the debate. What do I mean by “disciplined”?

    1 - Don’t take the bait on J6. State that your tweet to the crowd was about a peaceful protest (best if you bring the receipt), that you offered the national guard and that both Nancy Pelosi and the Major refused it. Then attack Biden’s record.
    2 - Don’t take the bait on “convicted felon.” State that you are confident that it will be overturned on appeal, as the American justice system is supposed to work. Don’t complain, don’t say it was unfair (although we all know it was). Then attack Biden’s record.
    3 - Don’t take the bait on “will you accept the result of the election?” State that you expect this election to be conducted fairly and that, if it is, you will of course accept the results. Then attack Biden’s record.
    4 - Stay calm, and almost position yourself as innocuous before what’s certain to be an unhinged, sputtering old fool. Remember: you’re talking to the undecided, the Nikki Haley cheerleaders and to the wine moms. We who have voted for you twice don’t need more red meat.
    5 - Focus on the positive, the sunny and the optimistic. It will be a fantastic contrast with the dark, cadaverous and lugubrious FJB.
    6 - If you’ve got to contradict the moderators, do so with a sense of humor and immediately move on.

    Do these simple things and the debate will be in the bag.

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