Former President Donald Trump gave a commanding performance last night on Laura Ingraham's Fox town hall. The headline takeaway? His unifying message about getting this country back on track for everyone. Take a listen:
DONALD TRUMP: "I don't care about the revenge thing. I know they usually use the word revenge. Will there be revenge? My revenge will be success."
Just to underscore his unity message, Mr. Trump described himself as a man of common sense. Take a listen to this one:
FED OFFICIALS RAISED CONCERNS ABOUT CUTTING RATES TOO SOON, MINUTES SHOW
DONALD TRUMP: "I'm a man of common sense. You know, they say you’re conservative, you're liberal, you’re this, you’re that, know where people have common sense. We need borders. We don't want to give foreign aid to countries that hate us."
Speaking of common sense, President Trump outlined his two top Day 1 priorities. Take a listen:
DONALD TRUMP: "Two things I'm going to do. Number one is drill, baby, drill and the other thing equal, equal is we're going to - look, I had the safest border in the history of our country."
"Drill, baby, drill" has become at least an 80% favorable issue. Closing the border and stopping what President Trump calls "migrant crime" is probably a 99% issue. That's what passes for common sense. The country will unite around those two principles. "Drill, baby, drill" would mean lower energy prices and an end to inflation. It’s a huge economic growth booster rocket.
It would also mean an end to the big-government socialist Green New Deal. Hundreds of mandates jammed down the throats of typical working families who instead want to exercise their free consumer choice over things like gasoline-powered cars, microwaves, showers, toilet bowls. They don't want a bunch of Washington bureaucrats to tell them how to live. That's a unifying message.
Of course, closing the border is now embraced by virtually the whole country – including a bunch of blue-state Democrats and barriers work, as Texas Governor Gregg Abbott is showing with his razor-wire campaign that has greatly curtailed illegal crossings – so much so that the battle has now shifted from Texas to San Diego.
Common-sense people can see this with their own eyes, every night on the news. By the way, a wall would serve the same purpose. Ironically, illegals from all over the world, including people from China, Syria, and Africa, who still have Remain in Mexico cards, toss them away when they cross the border, because they don't want the authorities to see the cards and deport them back to Mexico.
Building a wall, Remain in Mexico, catch-and-deport. This is all common sense. "Drill baby drill," slashing grocery and oil prices, and robbing Russia's Putin of wartime oil revenues – all common sense.
These are unifying themes around the vital topics of promoting faster economic growth, higher real wages, and a restoration of safety and lawfulness throughout the country. These are unifiers. They are common sense. When implemented, they will put America back on the path to success.
Mr. Trump last night talked about a number of other issues – including fair trade, a return to international respect for America, and solving the blow-ups in the Middle East and Ukraine and Afghanistan, all things that formed his record during his first term.
Finally, when asked why he stays in the political game throughout all the Democratic lawfare weaponizations and constant slings and arrows, Mr. Trump calmly replied: "I want to make America great again. It's not great right now and we can do that."
This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the February 21, 2024, edition of "Kudlow."
