Dennis Prager: ‘My Opposition to Donald Trump Was Wrong,’ He Is a ‘Great President’

I've always liked Prager, and really struggled with him during the primaries. But he really came around after the primaries, and has been a strong supporter of Trump ever since. The man has great political wisdom, and I think he represents a vast number of others who are skeptical about Trump. His apology wasn't necessary, but appreciated.

Dennis Prager: ‘My Opposition to Donald Trump Was Wrong,’ He Is a ‘Great President’

“My opposition to Donald Trump was wrong,” said Dennis Prager, describing Donald Trump as a “great president” whose political successes are connected to a disregard for the left-wing and partisan Democrat news media narratives.

Prager’s comments came during Thursday’s episode of his eponymous radio show. While Prager has said that Trump was his last choice during the Republican primaries, he supported him vigorously in the general election against Hillary Clinton.

“The only way to govern [while advancing] the principles of conservatism,” said Prager, was to disregard left-wing and partisan Democrat agitation pushed across the news media landscape. Prager said:

I was wrong. My opposition to Donald Trump was wrong, in retrospect. I was wrong. I had friends who supported him, and I didn’t understand them. I said, “Are you not aware of what he said about John McCain? Isn’t that enough to disqualify the guy?” They perceived in him what I did not perceive in him, that these over-the-top statements – as objectionable as the statements themselves may be, and none of them defended the statements – nevertheless, what they perceived was accurate: a man who doesn’t give a damn about what the press says about him. That is the only way to govern. It is the only way to advance the principles of conservatism in the United States is to not give a damn.

“[Donald Trump] is so much better a president than Mitt Romney would’ve made,” said Prager, describing Romney as “tepid” and concerned with appealing to news media outlets such as The New York Times.

A president’s actions are a more important metric of presidential success than a president’s demeanor, said Prager:

Would I like Donald Trump to have Mitt Romney’s temperament, or for that matter Barack Obama’s temperament? Yeah. So what? I would like a whole host of things. People are packages. What a president does is more important to me than a president’s demeanor. He is so much better a president than Mitt Romney would’ve made. Mitt Romney would’ve awakened every day to read The New York Timeseditorial page to see how he’s covered. Mitt Romney gave us Romneycare in Massachusetts. I campaigned for Mitt Romney, he would’ve been a better president [than Barack Obama]. Any Republican is better than any Democrat, that’s just the way it is. Having said that, Romney would’ve been a tepid president. Nothing comparably conservative compared to Donald Trump.

Concerns with a president’s demeanor should be secondary to broader analyses of a president’s impact, said Prager.

“He has turned out to be a great president with big communication flaws, in the way he tweets and some of the things he says and his temperament,” said Prager. “My temperament is the opposite. I love dignity. I love understatement. Okay, so be it. So what? I’m not sure I’d be as good a president as he. How do you like that? That’s how good he’s been.”

In April of 2017, Prager invited ostensibly conservative NeverTrump news media figures to celebrate Trump’s presidency. “Do conservatives — or non-leftists, for that matter — appreciate just how terrific Donald Trump has been as president?” he asked. “And how lucky we are that he won the presidency?”

“What I do know is that they ought to be deeply appreciative of him, and deeply grateful for luck or providence, and certainly for Trump himself, that he was elected president,” continued Prager. “First, it is unlikely that any other Republican would have defeated Hillary Clinton. Second, he has not only surpassed many of our expectations but also thus far governed in a manner more consistent with conservative principles than any president since Ronald Reagan, and arguably Calvin Coolidge.”
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radio interview: Dennis Prager - 'My Opposition to Donald Trump Was Wrong' - January 25, 2018

 

Sounds like you're a sin counter, frankly. When you apply a standard like this, no one will pass. All fall short. Trump has been in the public eye for decades. He has a long record and much of it when he was not conservative.

With this attitude, you end up supporting no one, and completely turning your back on the innocent (particularly the unborn). You might think it's brave and principled to do this, but not when you place someone else's life on the line. If your own life was threatened by laws like RvW, I could potentially see bravery. But not when your actions endanger other innocent lives.

I prefer to look at direction rather than perfection. Trump has gone from pro-abortion to the most pro-life president in our nation's history. He's kept his word and governed in accordance with biblical principles laid out in Romans 13. And he's one appointment away from creating a pro-life supreme court (assuming he gets to replace a liberal judge, including Kennedy).

If Christians join you, and sit out, the abortion holocaust will continue, and it will not be on Trump. The blame will drop directly on the Church, and those within that knew the good they should do, but did not do it.

 

The disagreement is not over standing on principle, but over the validity of your particular principles. You have put personal dislike of a President over life—and not even your own life. You're willing to put the lives of others in jeopardy. I'd be curious where you get these principles.

The RvW holocaust, right now, does not threaten you. You are completely safe in a very civil society with a good economy. You'll likely thrive. But other are not so lucky—others with out a voice. For them it's a game of Russian Roulette. You have claimed that you are turning your back on them based on moral principles. I'm merely pointing out those principles cannot based on Scripture. The idea that Trump is so immoral, he cannot be allowed to save lives is both bizarre and illogical (not that I believe he's that immoral, but if I did, I still would not turn my back on the unborn).

 

BTW, ironically, today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2018.


Trump's Holocaust Remembrance Day statement...

 

If you're feeling guilted, it's not my intention. The point is to tell the truth. Sometimes truth has a way of cutting to the chase. My concern is for the entire Church. If the Church was united, abortion would be abolished just like slavery was abolished. The fact that it's not reflects on this generation. Will we find the will to end the holocaust or find excuses not to fight? I'm praying for the former.

 

You mean phony Christians claiming to be above the law and trying to cut in line? Hmmm. I say deport, and give them a Bible with a bookmark on Romans 13. Respect the laws of lands. It's a good testimony.

BTW, you two complaining about being called out on abortion is hilarious.