Import jQuery

Why Americans Voted for President Trump in 2024

Donald Trump moments after an attempted assassination clipped his ear

Last night, the US voted President Donald Trump back into office, winning both the electoral college and the popular vote.

Many reasonable left-leaning folks are confused why Americans would vote for President Trump.

Here's my gentle, non-snarky introspective why we did so. Maybe it's useful to folks who genuinely want to understand. Here are 10 reasons why folks like me voted for President Trump:

  1. Abortion
  2. Inflation
  3. Immigration
  4. Free speech
  5. Competency
  6. Small government
  7. DEI madness
  8. Free Palestine cult
  9. Authenticity
  10. LGBT excesses

I explain each below.

1. Abortion. 

This is the greatest moral issue of our time. Our conviction is that killing unborn children is a form of murder. Trump appointed justices that overturned federal protection for abortion; he is the pro-life candidate who has, by his appointment, saved thousands of innocent lives.

For many, especially religious conservatives, abortion is the single issue that caused us to vote for him. In the 19th century, many of the slavery abolitionists were religious people who believed all humans were created in God's image and worthy of value. Many of the abortion abolitionists today are the same: religious people who see unborn children as humans created in God's image and worthy of value.

2. Inflation. 

During the last 4 years, inflation reached record high levels. Families pay a lot more for groceries, gas, electricity, basic necessities. People are poorer because of foolish fiscal decisions from the Biden administration, particularly printing extraordinary amounts of money during the COVID pandemic. It devalued the dollar and caused inflation to skyrocket. Several polls indicated inflation and the economy to be the key issue for US voters this year.

The Biden-Harris administration demonstrated a fundamental misunderstanding of the cause of inflation, instead blaming the problem on "price gouging", even in industries like the grocery business where margins are razor thin.

3. Immigration. 

During the last 4 years, illegal immigration greatly increased and the Biden-Harris administration did little to stop it. This has negative downstream effects: a higher welfare tax burden for citizens and legal green card holders, fewer jobs for citizens, more crime, changing demographics, foreign culture. Trump is rightly seen as tough on illegal immigration, whereas Harris was appointed border czar and oversaw this immigration disaster.

4. Free speech. 

In an unprecedented assault on free speech, left wing authoritarians banned a sitting President from social media. For the first 3 years of his administration, the left tried to delegitimize his Presidency via the Russiagate witch hunt. Several blue states tried unsuccessfully to get Trump removed from the ballot prior to the election. 

This applies downstream to average citizens. Even now, sites like Reddit routinely ban conservative commenters, shut down conservative subreddits, and suppress dissent by labeling any opposition as sexist, intolerant, xenophobic, homophobic, Islamophobic, racist, bigot, etc. 

The pandemic also saw a great deal of censorship. Anyone who opposed the government's emergency powers were muted, banned, shunned. It became a grave sin to question the mandatory closing of businesses, the origins of the virus, the efficacy of masks, or even the COVID vaccines pioneered by the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed. People were banned from social media accounts and labeled conspiracy theorists. One of my family members was threatened with dishonorable discharge from the military for refusing to take a vaccine. Many lost their jobs over their convictions. Hell, I'm strongly pro-vaccine and some of my posts were censored and deleted for discussing -- merely discussing! -- alternative treatments for people who were already diagnosed with COVID. 

Harris and Walz ticket demonstrated a lack of understanding of what free speech is or why it's important. Walz erroneously stated at the VP debate that "free speech doesn't include misinformation." 

5. Competency. 

Some past Democratic candidates like Obama have been intelligent, competent, even persuasive, but Harris was visibly not so. Often she responded to simple and direct questions with word salad non-answers, e.g. the Brett Baier interview. She refused to do longform, unscripted interviews with opposing (Rogan) or neutral (Lex Friedman) interviewers. Her voting record was ranked as farthest left of all Senators during her time in office. She was appointed as "border czar", but oversaw the worst illegal immigration in decades.  She didn't win the Democratic nomination but was shoved into the role after Biden's poor debate performance. She had never won an election outside of her blue home state of California. 

Trump, by contrast, ran a successful 4-year term with no new wars, a booming economy, international strength. Both Trump and Vance engaged in many adversarial interviews -- indeed, 95+% of newspapers and legacy media donate overwhelmingly to Democrats -- and answered convincingly. They engaged in long-form, unscripted interviews to explain of their positions.

6. Small government. 

Conservatives believe that the bigger the government, the smaller the citizen. A vote for Trump is a vote for smaller government. The US debt is at $35 trillion (!) in debt, and the interest is snowballing. The new administration promises to create a Department of Government Efficiency which will slash the size of the federal government, reduce federal spending, trim the bloated welfare state, stop injecting billions of newly printed dollars into the economy, deregulate, and reduce inflation. Harris/Walz looked more of the same: unfettered government growth, spiraling debt. The great entrepreneur of our age, Elon Musk, as part of the new Trump government vows to deregulate and cut red tape, unleashing a new era of innovation and business growth.

7. DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) madness. 

Most Americans are merit-focused: the best person for the job, regardless of skin color, race, gender, religion. But the Biden administration's appointees were often not based on merit, but on skin color or minority status: Sam Brinton, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Rachel Levine, and perhaps even Harris herself are examples of people who likely would not have reached their current levels but for their minority status.

The Harris/Walz ticket asked we "vote for people who look like America" -- but this appeals to outward, immutable characteristics like race, gender, or skin color. 

During the last 4 years, the Democratic party had cozied up to race rioters (e.g. George Floyd protests) who destroyed businesses and shut down cities because the protestors were diverse. The legacy media excused this, with a CNN reporter famously claiming they were "fiery but mostly peaceful riots" while a city burned behind them.


Harris famously spoke out during that time in favor of defunding the police, at a time when law and order were needed. (She later recanted that belief when it became politically expedient.)

The hypocrisy inherent within DEI initiatives were also seen during the COVID pandemic, when experts urged everyone to quarantine at home...except the race rioters, who were told to keep gathering in large groups and keep protesting because they were protesting against the disease called racism.

DEI excesses also include silly and hypocritical land acknowledgements, pronouns in bio, and other performative gestures that normal Americans roll their eyes at.

8. Free Palestine cult. 

The Democratic Party embraced flag-burning, terrorist-supporting pro-Hamas groups who celebrated the rapes, tortures, kidnappings and execution of October 7th. 

It welcomed the far-left terrorist sympathizing students and the months long sit-ins at university campuses that threatened Jewish minorities and made campuses a place an unsafe place for the free exchange of ideas. Jewish students and faculty were harassed. 

This pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party includes powerful members of Congress including Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, AOC, and several other members of the squad. Many of their values go beyond support for civilian Palestinians and creep into antisemitism or full-blown support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. 

The free Palestine cult impacted Harris' own campaign: one of the early favorites for VP was Pennsylvania governor Joshua Shapiro. The antisemitic wing of the Democratic party pressured Harris to not pick Shapiro because he is Jewish. One wonders if Harris would have won Pennsylvania if Shapiro was her running mate.

9. Authenticity. 

Harris would change her accent depending on who she was speaking to. Her own positions changed whenever politically expedient (e.g. defund the police). Walz claimed to be a football coach, but tweeted about a political ally "running a mean pick 6". He claimed to be an avid hunter but during a hunting photo op, had trouble loading and arming his weapon. 

The Harris and Walz campaign claimed Trump was Hitler. It compared his rally at Madison Square Garden to the early Nazi rallies. But Trump had 4 years in office and decidedly wasn't Hitler. On the contrary, President Trump became a great friend of Jews and the people of Israel, even moving the US embassy to Israel's capital, Jerusalem. 

To this day, there is even a town in northern Israel named after President Trump.

The northern Israeli town of Ramat Trump רמת טראמף, Trump Heights, named for the friendship between President Trump and the Jewish people.

And in this election, more Jews voted for Trump than any other Republican candidate in history.

And Trump's daughter Ivanka married a Jewish man, and they are raising their children as Jews. Here's their family celebrating Hanukkah:

If Trump is Hitler, Hitler must be spinning in his grave to know he's become a friend of the people he tried to exterminate.

The Harris-Walz ticket also critiqued vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance as "weird".

But in the VP debate, Vance showed himself to be one of the most genuine, down-to-earth people to run for office in recent memory.

10. LGBT excesses. 

The Democratic Party and the left advocated for excesses in the LGBT movement, including the chopping off of healthy sexual organs in prepubescent children. It waged lawfare against parents who opposed it.

The Biden-Harris administration appointed men-cosplaying-as-women to significant roles in the government and military and demanded we call them women when any ordinary person can see they're men. It supported biological men competing in women's sports and access to private female spaces like locker rooms and restrooms.

Harris famously remarked she supported taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries for illegal immigrants and prison inmates. Many public schools now fly flags advocating for sexual deviancy when most American parents just want their kids to have a decent education without sexual indoctrination. 

Leftist public school teachers advocated for pornographic books in schools provided they are LGBT-focused. The LGBT excesses also include attempted expansions of LGBT to so-called "two spirit" individuals, people with a pseudo-spiritual belief they were born in the wrong body, "minor attracted persons", people who claim to be animals, and other gender or sexual deviancies that normal Americans recognize as harmful to a healthy society.

While I don't speak for all conservatives or all Americans, I'm a lifelong conservative and have an ear to the ground in that space. I believe these are some of the significant reasons that most Americans voted for Donald Trump as our next President.

Sukkot Miracle: Hamas Leader Sinwar is Dead

Photo from this morning: Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader and October 7th mastermind, dead in the rubble, killed by the Israeli military. 

On October 7th 2023, which happened to be the last day of Sukkot, Hamas carried out the October 7th atrocity, resulting in the largest single day loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. The mastermind of the attack was Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

And now, today, on the first day of Sukkot 2024, Israel has killed Yahya Sinwar.

Sinwar carried out his butchery on Sukkot and is now dead on Sukkot a year later. We're witnessing a divine moment. God's fingerprints all over this.

The timing was not planned by humans; the IDF had no intel that Sinwar was in the building. After reconnaissance spotted multiple figures moving stealthily among buildings, the IDF sent a drone into the building. It recorded a masked man injured and resting on a couch, his face hidden by a bandana. 

The IDF shelled the building and opened fire. Hours later when the IDF entered the building, the masked figure's identity was revealed to be the October 7th mastermind.

Sinwar's body was found with cash and a false ID, indicating he may have been attempting to flee Gaza.

The contents of Sinwar's pockets, courtesy of Israel's Channel 12. Note the occupation listed on the false ID.

Sinwar joins a host of powerful men who tried and failed to erase Israel, often bringing calamity and destruction on themselves:

  • Pharaoh Ramses II of Egypt
  • King Tiglathpilnesser III of Assyria
  • King Shalmaneser V of Assyria
  • King Sargon II of Assyria
  • King Sennacherib of Assyria
  • King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon
  • Haman the Agagite of Persia
  • King Antiochus Epiphanes of the Seleucids
  • Emperor Titus of Rome
  • Emperor Hadrian of Rome
  • Fuhrer Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany
  • Hamas chairman Ismail Haniyeh of the Palestinians
  • Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah of Lebanon
  • and now Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar of the Palestinians

History teaches this simple lesson: if you try to harm the Jewish people, God will harm you.

An Israeli believer friend wrote some important, appropriate notes on Sinwar's death.

Sinwar is dead. The graphic pictures of his intact corpse leave no doubt, as the face is unmistakably his. And DNA tests have now positively identify the corpse as his.

His story and the story of the worst massacre of Jews since WW2 is filled with tragic twists and turns, and no shortage of bitter ironies.

The first bitter irony is that Israel saved his life with state-of-the-art surgery when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor that would have killed him if left untreated, while he was a prisoner in an Israeli jail.

The second irony was that he, together with 1,000 of the most murderous of Hamas' terrorists, were released from Israeli prisons in 2011, in exchange for a single Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who was captured and taken back to Gaza as a hostage in 2006. For six years his family and a growing number of their allies urged the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to "pay any price" to ransom him. While every Israeli citizen feared for Shalit's welfare and wanted to see him safely returned home, many saw the risk and folly in releasing 1,000 of the most experienced and hardened terrorist to rejoin the front lines of Hamas' jihad against Israel. This wasn't the first time that Israel released thousands of murderers to restore a single person--sometimes a dead citizen--to their family. And each and every time, without exception, it led directly to the deaths of tens or hundreds of other Israelis in the years that followed. Sinwar's release in 2011 for a single individual led, directly, to the torturous deaths of thousands of others on October 7, and since then.

A third tragic irony is that for months before the attacks of Oct. 7, dozens of female field intelligence soldiers arrayed along the frontier between Israel and Gaza faithfully observed Hamas' preparations for the attacks and correctly interpreted the gravity of what was being planned. But when they reported their findings to their male commanders, they were dismissed as the ramblings of a bunch of anxious teen girls with oversized imaginations. Therefore, the Middle Eastern chauvinism that famously affects many of Israel's neighbors seems to have infected not a few men in the ranks of Israel's own armed forces, with deadly consequences. 

The story, of course, continues, as the end is not within sight.

Another Israeli friend writes about the significance of Sinwar's death on Sukkot:


One more note from me, on a personal level. On Yom Kippur last week, I talked to my kids about repentance. I read for them Ezekiel 18, where God says he doesn't delight in even the death of a wicked person, but would rather that they repent and live. How does that relate to Sinwar's death?

While God doesn't delight in anyone's death, we can celebrate that justice is served. A man who orchestrated the murders, tortures, rapes, kidnappings, and executions of hundreds of innocent people deserves the death penalty. He has now received it poetically on the Hebrew anniversary of his demonic depravity.

God says Sukkot is a day for us to rejoice. We can rejoice that justice is served and that perhaps we're a step closer to the release of the hostages and the end of the war.


A Pronomian Christian Must Be A Zionist

On the Pronomian Theology group, a frequenter asks,

A screenshot of a Facebook post that poses the question, "can a Christian be pronomian without being Zionist?"
My answer is no, it's logically inconsistent to be Pronomian without being a Zionist.

I'll explain why, but let's first define terms.

  • Pronomian: a Christian who holds to the ongoing validity and applicability of God's law. Pronomians believe that salvation is by faith and that keeping the commandments is how we practice faith and love God.

    In the context of the Messianic movement, Pronomian Christianity can serve as an alternative to Hebrew Roots and Messianic Judaism. An alternative to Hebrew Roots, because much of Hebrew Roots has been polluted by wild-eyed conspiracies and bad theology. An alternative to Messianic Judaism, because Messianic Judaism is meant for Jews. Or it can function as a descriptor: pro-Torah Messianic Jews and pro-Torah Hebrew Roots Christians may both identify as Pronomian.
     
  • Zionist: A person who believes Jews should have the right to return to the land of Israel.

It is really just that. If someone tells you it is something more, they are probably misinformed or they are lying to you for political reasons.

It's worth mentioning what Zionism isn't.

Zionism isn't the belief that the modern nation of Israel is inerrant. It doesn't mean you can't critique policies or laws of the state of Israel. I've done so my whole life and consider myself an ardent Zionist.

Zionism isn't colonialism. Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel going back nearly 4,000 years. Zionism is a return to Israel, not a colonial project.

Zionism isn't a license to mistreat Muslims, Christians, or other minorities in and around Israel.

Zionism just means that Jews should be able to return to Israel. That's it.

Back to our question, can a person be Pronomian but reject Zionism? Put another way, can a person believe the Law is applicable, but believe Jews have no right to return to Israel?

My answer is no, that view is logically inconsistent:

  1. Pronomians believe God's Torah is still relevant and applicable.
  2. God's Torah promises the land of Israel to the Jewish people.
  3. Therefore, Pronomians must be Zionist.
To claim to be Pronomian but not Zionist is inconsistent. It means you reject parts of the Torah where Jews are promised the land of Israel.

If you doubt this, consider the anti-Zionist far-left Jews who, when reading the Torah, will skip over or mumble parts of the Torah that promise the land of Israel to Jews:

In their case, they are not pronomian. They may pay lip service to the Torah, but their application of it omits the central parts of the Torah where God gives the land to Israel. Some practice a form of airy spiritual, feelings-based Judaism (tikkun olam-ify everything!) that is embarrassed by the actual text of the Torah. But mostly, it's people whose lives don't conform to the Bible in meaningful ways. Typically, their lives are not much different than the lives of secular non-Jews. None of it can be described as pronomian in practice.

If we pronomian Christians claim to take the Torah seriously, we must accept that God has promised the land of Israel to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

"But Jews aren't all of Israel"

When I posted my answer to the Pronomian Theology group, the woman asking the question responded,

Do you think the Land promises made to Abraham’s descendants or Jacob’s descendants apply exclusively to Jewish people, that is, those who identify by ancestry, birth, or conversion with Judaism?

I know this is a potentially fraught can of worms to open, but… “Jews” aren’t promised the Land in Scripture. Israel is. (“Jewish” as a religion or national identity didn’t exist when the Land promises were made.)

If Zionism is about a Jewish right of return, then that’s a modern political question, not theological. [...]

But to be a Zionist because “Jews deserve a homeland” (19th century ethnonationalism) is not the same as to be a Zionist because “God promised the Land to the tribes of Israel” (a theological covenant claim).

I think a Zionism that’s based on Jewish nationalism rather than God’s covenant with Israel is political, not spiritual. I’m skeptical of that since Yeshua’s kingdom is not political.
There's a lot to unpack in these objections. The first is that the land of Israel was promised to Abraham's descendants, which includes but is not limited to Jews. The New Testament states, for example, that believers in Israel's Messiah are the seed of Abraham. Does that mean the land promises are extended to Christians? I don't think so, though I admit my thinking and study on that particular question is still shallow. Even so, this is irrelevant to the question of whether Pronomians should be Zionists. The question remains because Jews are at least part of Israel.

This person also notes that Israel was promised the land, not Jews. Jews weren't known as a distinct people per se; they existed as subgroups within Israel. The tribe of Judah, primarily, with the tribes of Levi and Benjamin secondarily. These groups later were identified as the Kingdom of Judah after King David's reign. Following the Assyrian captivity, Judahites (Jews) became the only surviving group of Israelites with significant numbers.

It's true there may be other peoples with Israelite lineage. Bnei Manashe of India, Beta Israel of Ethiopia, and numerous other groups claim, with varying legitimacy, descent from Jacob. And of course, Two House theology believes that there are more descendants of Jacob mixed in with the nations of the world. I consider these interesting but irrelevant to the question at hand. The question is whether one can be a Pronomian Christian without Zionism. And unless we deny Jews are part of Israel -- something that only extreme anti-Semities do -- we must concede that Zionism is Biblical and central to the Torah.

If you claim to be Pronomian, if you believe the Law is applicable and relevant to God's people, then you must be a Zionist and confirm that Jews should be able to return to the land of Israel.

Appending "You might like" to each post.