Not Again Donald

Once again Donald Trump has shown his lack of discipline and wisdom and has created a media storm which affects all Republicans. Trump had dinner with Kanye and Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-lago last week. Kanye has touched the third rail of public discourse by railing against Jewish influence in his life and business world. Fuentes is described as a white supremacist. He said of Jews; “I don’t see them as part of western civilization, particularly since they are not Christians.”

The ancient writer Publilius Syrus once wrote “Would you rule a great empire? Rule over yourself.” If you  expect to lead a nation, you need the qualities of self-control and wisdom. This is especially true if you are a Republican. 

The media will protect Democrats when they do not exercise self control or show a lack of wisdom. When Obama met with Louis Farrakahn, a notorious anti-semite and bigot, the media barely mentioned the event and refused to criticize Obama. When Fauci went to the social media corporations and asked them to silence voices who were questioning his decisions on Covid, the media ignored his actions. Republicans, however, are held to a different standard. 

If you wish to lead the Republican Party and eventually the nation, you must exercise self-control. A Republican leader must understand that any misstep will be magnified by the national press and covered extensively. Remember how the national press has covered the January 6th fiasco. Two years later they are still covering the event as if it happened last week.

Over and over, Trump proves himself unable to exercise control over his impulse to speak off the cuff. Recently we saw Trump mock DeSantis three days before the midterm elections. He speaks his mind and then his handlers and sycophants spend a week explaining what he meant to say. This takes the Republican message off target. 

A wise man would have realized that a dinner with Kanye and Fuentes would create a firestorm. The resulting press coverage has taken the Republicans off-message and forced them to play defense against charges of being racist and anti-semitic. All this  distraction because Trump did not have the wisdom to realize that having dinner with someone as toxic as Fuentes would create a backlash. 

Someone once said “self-discipline is something, it’s like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets.” I’m afraid Trump’s self-discipline muscles look like John Candy’s stomach. Republicans need a disciplined leader who has the wisdom to lead the party and stay on message. Hopefully over the next year such a leader will emerge.