In June 2015, Donald Trump rode down the infamous escalator at Trump Tower to announce his presidential bid. Like a lot of people, I didn’t know what to think. From the start, I appreciated his populist instincts on trade and immigration, as well as his hard-line approach to China. But he was a former Democrat and his style seemed too abrasive, and I said as much. Surely, I thought, we can fix our broken politics with a more traditional Republican.

After he won, I rethought my opposition. As I watched the constant stream of venom from Democratic Party “resisters” and their allies in the corporate media, it dawned on me that President Trump’s aggressive style was a feature, not a bug.

What separated Donald Trump from other Republicans in my lifetime wasn’t just his populist-inspired policy agenda—it was his fearlessness. When he nominated my friend (and my wife’s former boss) Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the Left threw every reprehensible slander imaginable in Kavanaugh’s direction. I assumed Trump would fold and withdraw the nomination. But he didn’t. He stood his ground, and Kavanaugh was eventually confirmed successfully.

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