11President Biden Unfit, Unprepared to Combat an Aggressive China

China is on the move. President Biden, meanwhile, is failing America to an astonishing degree.

I grew up in Colorado at the foot of Cheyenne Mountain, the original home of the joint U.S.-Canadian North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). NORAD’s primary mission is to protect North American air space. So, in the midst of the Chinese ballon scandal, what exactly went wrong? How was China’s first spy balloon able to fly across Alaska and parts of Canada before being spotted by a private pilot flying above Montana?

What Americans have seen in recent days is an unacceptable failure on the part of the entire U.S. national defense system—and the commander in chief. The American people deserve answers from the man “in charge,” Joe Biden.

How is it that the Biden administration allowed the (first) Chinese ballon to fly across the entire continental United States before shooting it down over the Atlantic Ocean? How much intelligence was our enemy—China’s communist government—able to collect? Americans still don’t know the full story.

This incompetent, irresponsible handling of an unprecedented national security breach is outrageous. President Biden must be held accountable.

As more details are revealed, it’s clear that the Chinese Communist Party is mobilizing heavily. According to the unfit and unprepared Biden administration, China’s ballon surveillance program is “global in scope.” Similar surveillance devices have been spotted in the Middle East, including Afghanistan. And China is now increasing its defense budget by 11 percent, setting its sights on nearby Taiwan.

This is the most aggressive, emboldened version of communist China that we’ve seen in decades.  And it’s no coincidence: China, led by Xi Jinping, has been emboldened by President Biden, whose administration has either inadequately dealt with the Chinese threat or ignored it altogether. There is a reason why China is aligning itself with the likes of Iran and Russia now, aggressively courting America’s adversaries as allies.

The reason is Joe Biden. Lest we forget the State of the Union, where he barely mentioned China as an adversary. The president spent more time lamenting hotel and baggage fees than confronting the Chinese threat with any semblance of resolve, strength, or leadership. Even worse, he reminded Xi that the Biden administration seeks “competition, not conflict” with China.

The only issue with Biden’s faux-diplomacy is that Xi disagrees. As the recent wave of Chinese balloon surveillance reminds all Americans, the Chinese government obviously sees the United States as an enemy. The Biden administration may seek competition, but Xi’s government has made conflict more likely than at any point in recent memory.

The logical question is this: What does the Biden administration do in response? Unfortunately, the “who” suggests the American response will be as passive and weak as can be expected from a president out of his depths. President Biden has yet to even brief the American people on China’s maneuvering or the potential for U.S. retaliation, whatever that may be (or not).

Expecting answers, American citizens have received a combination of mixed messaging from Biden officials and radio silence from their boss. At least we now know that aliens aren’t to blame, courtesy of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

The current commander in chief is a far, far cry from his predecessors, who regularly addressed Americans during times of crisis. President Biden’s non-response to the Chinese threat is a sobering departure from another Democrat, President John F. Kennedy, whose famous address on the Cuban Missile Crisiscleared the bare-minimum bar of actually informing the public. That historic response—delivered by a man fit for the job—clearly asks too much of President Biden.

The federal government’s top priority is to expose and counter any and all acts of Chinese aggression. For too long, politicians like Biden have appeased or disregarded an expansionist China, intent on dominating global affairs in more ways than one. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.

The rapid expansion of Chinese-controlled TikTok on American soil is not only another example of China’s resurgent power play, but also another blatant failure on the part of Biden Democrats who treat the TikTok menace like it doesn’t exist. Even as Republicans attempt to mitigate TikTok’s surveillance of countless consumers, they are met with ridicule from Democrats and their media allies.

Enough: The time to respond to China is now. For the national disgrace named Joe Biden, the clock is ticking.

11America, Brace for a Red Wave on Tuesday. It’s Real.

For months, Americans have been hearing about a “red wave.” Joe Rogan’s predicting one, the liberal media agrees, and actual American voters are venting their frustrations on a daily basis.

In President Biden’s America, the frustration is well-deserved. The U.S. economy is on the brink of recession (if it’s not recessionary already), American pocketbooks are being decimated by inflation and stock market downturns, and then there’s the lack of response from Biden Democrats who have no real solutions to America’s problems.

Not surprisingly, Biden’s approval rating remains in the gutter. Breaking news: Only 10 percent of voters under 40—once a reliable Democrat voting bloc—still support the Biden presidency, expressing deep concerns about the inflationary economy. That doesn’t bode well for Democrats on Election Day, no matter how often they change the subject to abortion and similar issues. Nor does historical precedent bode well either, with the incumbent party in the White House generally losing congressional seats two years into power.

On the Left, the general excitement just isn’t there. From crime and illegal immigration to the economy, there are so many problems in Biden’s America that it’s virtually impossible for even liberals to rally around a stale Democratic Party. The leader of that party inspires no hope, optimism, or passion, with Barack Obama recently being dragged out of retirement to help lessen the blow.

Trump rallies and Biden “rallies” are night and day. Even Obama can’t compete with the enthusiasm of the Trump years, and many Republicans are building on that momentum en route to victory. Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), a staunchly “America First” candidate, now has the upper hand on Cheri Beasley—a radical supporter of the “Black Lives Matter” and “Defund the Police” movements—in North Carolina’s Senate race. When polls should be tightening up, Republicans like Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Dr. Mehmet Oz (Pennsylvania) are surging against their opponents.

Look at New Hampshire, which Biden won by roughly eight points in 2020 and Democrats have won consistently since 2000. Races in the Granite State are now leaning Republican, and they’ll lean even further right on Election Day. Because the state does not have early voting, public sentiment is poised to become even more anti-Biden in the coming days.

The 2022 electoral shift is driven in large part by a demographic shift, with minority groups embracing the Republican platform of law and order in unprecedented ways. Many Asian, Black, and Hispanic voters are seriously questioning their allegiances to the Democratic Party, which seems to care more about transgender issues than pocketbook policy priorities like economic growth, business expansion, and job creation. Now more than ever before, there is a real competition for minority votes, with Democrats losing ground and Republicans taking advantage.

When it’s all said and done, most Americans just want to live the American Dream and support the candidates who make their lives easier. They want to support the political party in favor of economic prosperity—one that isn’t distracted by ridiculous social issues of the day. And, when it’s all said and done, the 2022 midterms will prove that Republicans like Rep. Mayra Flores (R-TX) aren’t “one-off” success stories. Election Day will punish Democrats who shun people like Flores just because they happen to believe in traditional American values rather than liberal talking points.

My organization, the Committee to Defeat the President, has been mobilizing unprecedented support for pro-Trump Republicans in recent months. The energy on the ground is incredibly high. Based on the Committee’s interactions at the grassroots level, Republican excitement and enthusiasm are palpable. We’re investing in states like New Hampshire and North Carolina because voters are giving the “America First” platform a popular mandate once again.

The red wave is real because no amount of liberal demagoguery or left-wing political spending can overcome America’s popular mandate. And the Biden agenda is historically unpopular.

Believe what you’ve heard about Republican gains in 2022. They are real, and they will wipe out countless Democrats on Election Day.

11OPINION: North Carolina’s future depends on Ted Budd

America is at a crossroads. There is no leadership in the White House. President Biden is the most ineffectual man to occupy it since President Carter before Reagan’s revolution, while his Democratic allies continue to move further and further left at the expense of everyday Americans.

Left-wing agenda items like climate change and identity politics cloud the thinking of Biden and his liberal allies, while hard-working employers, employees, and taxpayers are being left behind by inflation and a slumping economy writ large. At the White House, there is absolutely no focus on pocketbook matters, despite the fact that issues like inflation remain the top priority for the overwhelming majority of Americans — how to earn and save more money. Unfortunately, the only focus — backed by the liberal media — seems to be vilifying Republicans as supposed enemies of the state.

Then, of course, there’s Ukraine. As the world inches closer to World War III, President Biden appears to have no strategy in countering Russian aggression or making peace in Europe a reality. Biden’s style of “leadership” amounts to nothing more than symbolic gesture after symbolic gesture, hence the term “ineffectual.”

Leading up to Election Day, something’s gotta give. After nearly two years of a Biden presidency that has only divided America further and emboldened our enemies abroad, electoral change is imperative. Americans are desperate for their nation to get back on the right track, but that can only change with a red wave sweeping Democrats out of the offices they never deserved to hold in the first place.

Which brings us to North Carolina, where Rep. Ted Budd is running to replace retiring Sen. Richard Burr. A businessman-turned-public-servant, Budd’s Senate race is an extremely important step for Republicans as they seek to restore American greatness and oust those chipping away at it. He is the perfect man for Burr’s job, focusing his campaign on three key pillars: Inflation, crime, and the border crisis — three generational problems that President Biden either ignores or worsens instead of solving.

11Open-Border Democrats Get What They Deserve, America-First Republicans Get Even

Illegal immigrants in New York! Washington, D.C. too! Martha’s Vineyard even!

Suddenly, the U.S.-Mexico border crisis is real. Because the people affected are now left-wing Democrats in East Coast “sanctuary cities,” rather than those retreads in Florida and Texas, the liberal media has seen the light. Democrats and their media allies have found their common sense, complaining about the “border crisis” (yes, they use those words now)—you know, calling a spade a spade.

In recent weeks, liberal hypocrisy has rightly been exposed by voices across the political spectrum. But this story isn’t just about liberal Democrats getting what they deserve. Establishment Republicans like Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, and the entire Bush clan have long sold “immigration reform” as the solution to America’s border problem, proposing policies like a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

The issues on display today stem, at least in part, from the “immigration reformers” who regularly refused to uphold the rule of law and looked down on border security. The current chaos on our southern border falls on their shoulders. And, while Democrats are clearly singular in their hypocrisy, the border crisis is a bipartisan boondoggle.

For decades, there has been an unholy alliance between open-border Democrats and establishment Republicans—working with national organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—to undermine law and order. They helped create the crisis by selling a lie that Republicans must appease the Left on immigration to avoid alienating the Hispanic vote.

It was a lie then and it’s a lie now. Along came Donald Trump in 2015, running on the rule of law and border security to defeat his establishment opponents and snag the Republican nomination for president. In 2016, he rode an “America First” platform that included closing the border en route to the White House.

And guess what? Did Hispanic voters abandon the Republican Party in droves? Did they call Republicans xenophobes and racists for simply opposing illegal immigration?

Not quite. To the contrary, Latinos are now more open to voting Republican than ever before, understanding that beliefs like economic growth and limited government benefit them too. Across the political spectrum, Hispanic voters also recognize the fact that illegal immigration only ends up hurting American citizens and immigrants who came here legally. According to The Hill congressional reporter Mychael Schnell, “Some Latino Democrats are frustrated with Democratic efforts to attain legal status for undocumented immigrants.”

Nearly a decade since the “Gang of Eight” proclaimed “immigration reform” as the only path forward for Republicans, Hispanic voters are now siding with Republicans on hot-button issues like inflation. Cue the recent Wall Street Journal headline: “Latino Voters, Once Solidly Democratic, Split Along Economic Lines.”

In 2022, Americans are witnessing an unprecedented demographic shift, with Hispanics rejecting the identity politics of the Left and truly voting their conscience. That is the secret behind Rep. Mayra Flores’ (R-TX) historic election earlier this year.

For Democrats, it’s karma. It’s been a long time coming. Even now, Democrats don’t really have a solution to the immigration problem, choosing to scapegoat red-state governors instead of actually addressing the border crisis. And their ineptitude is borne out in the polling data: Nearly 60 percent of Americans disapprove of President Biden’s immigration policy.

The Hispanic shift—personified by Flores—rejects the liberal hypothesis that opening the southern border would reward Democrats with millions of new votes. There’s a reason why Biden and other Democrats believe in amnesty for illegal immigrants: They see those people as new cogs in the Democratic machine (at least, until the mass migrant move north). This was never about compassion; Democrats have always looked at illegal immigrants as voters to exploit. In the Left’s eyes, the “pathway to citizenship” has always been a pathway to electoral victory.

How the tides have turned. For the first time ever, Republicans are no longer pandering to Hispanic voters with demeaning, racist assumptions. Trump and his supporters embraced Latinos who came here legally as equals, welcoming them to the melting pot and encouraging them to live the American Dream. Like all Americans, Latino voters believe in old-fashioned American values—from education and law enforcement to economic prosperity. They want what most people want: The chance at a better life.

Republicans can relish the liberal hypocrites eating their words now. But let there be a lesson learned too: Put America first, and a wide range of Americans will support you. The Republican Party is finally one big tent.

11Op-Ed: As Democrats Pat Themselves on the Back Over ‘Climate Wins,’ Red Wave Grows

Faced with historically high inflation and a struggling economy, what do Democrats do? Fight climate change, of course! Expand the IRS, of course!

After signing the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” into law, President Joe Biden celebrated “the biggest step forward on climate ever.” Other Democrats welcomed the new army of IRS agents ready to make American taxpayers miserable.

Then there’s House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who commented that the “Democrats’ economic agenda is driving a steady and robust recovery.”

There’s just one problem: Democrats don’t really have an economic agenda, other than taxing people more. Pelosi’s signature climate package does nothing to address sky-high prices or spur an economic recovery. It does nothing to incentivize small business expansion or job creation.

Despite inflation emerging as the top concern for American voters, out-of-touch Democrats are “hearing” them by tackling greenhouse gas emissions instead. It’s a bizarre strategy leading up to the 2022 elections, to say the least.

One recent New York Times headline put it best: “Biden Signs Climate, Health Bill Into Law as Other Economic Goals Remain.” Ah, yes, the economy remains!

None of this bodes well for Democrats come November. They may celebrate hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending and “climate wins” (whatever that means), but Americans aren’t stupid. They see the writing on the wall.

From sky-high gas prices to staffing shortages and supply chain issues, the economic picture actually isn’t so rosy at the moment. There is still credible talk of recession. Real wages are down nearly 4 percent over the last year (a 40-year record), while inflation exceeds 9 percent (another 40-year record).

In other words, Americans are losing money, while the federal government is content spending hundreds of billions of dollars more. Recent research shows that inflation will cost U.S. families more than $4,000 in 2022 alone,

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American families are indeed blaming Biden for their economic woes. His approval rating has dropped to 36 percent — the worst of his presidency. A record 52 percent of Americans expect the economy to get worse over the next 12 months. And there is little to no faith in Bidenomics to steady the ship: Only 25 percent of Americans believe in Biden’s handling of pocketbook issues like inflation. (The fact that 25 percent still believe in Biden is shocking in itself. Who are these people?)

Electoral signs also shed light on Biden’s historic failures. In recent days, pro-Trump conservatives have run away with primary victory after primary victory in states like Arizona and Michigan. Dozens of Trump-endorsed candidates are well-positioned to secure subsequent victories in their respective states, showing that the “America First” movement of 2016 is still alive and well. Not only that, but Trump voters and their preferred candidates are more energetic than they were even in 2016 and 2020, determined to stop the bleeding in Biden’s America.

I’m on the ground in key battleground states, and the energy is palpable. Early polling in states like Ohio is promising. Americans want to make their country great again. And Trump supporters aren’t the only ones fed up with the status quo. After all, most independents disapprove of the Biden presidency and the failure it breeds.

It’s not enough to voice disapproval. Americans need to vote in 2022. On both sides of the political spectrum, American voters must undo the damage being done by Biden Democrats and bring true leadership back to our nation — from Arizona and Michigan to Washington, D.C.

There is no stronger platform than putting America first. Growing the economy, reducing inflation and expressing patriotism are all winning platforms. Donald Trump proved it in 2016 and his successors are proving it in 2022.

Momentum is on the side of leaders who take pocketbook issues seriously. Economic solutions are the first, second and third priorities — and Republicans have them. The red wave will happen because of the economy, stupid.

In the meantime, Democrats can keep putting out a positive spin. They can keep patting themselves on the back for a job not done. The red wave will only grow larger, sweeping away America’s reality deniers.

The more Biden and Pelosi congratulate themselves, the more out-of-touch they become. And the more their party will lose in November.

11Republicans Must Impeach Merrick Garland, Christopher Wray

Over a week since the Mar-a-Lago raid, accountability is still nowhere to be found. As the liberal media celebrates government overreach, the raid’s legality is a question not asked by those seeking to vilify Donald Trump at every turn.

The Biden administration is clearly desperate to change the subject, while the president ducks media questions on vacation.

But Americans cannot normalize what happened in Florida. By raiding Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, the Washington, D.C. establishment yet again revealed its utter disdain for the man, his agenda, and the tens of millions of Americans who support him to this day. (He’s a more popular president than his successor, by the way.) The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) once again showed that federal law enforcement will take a backseat to petty partisan politics, with Trump being treated and disrespected like some villain from a Bond movie.

But just because the FBI’s misconduct is unsurprising does not justify it. To the contrary, the FBI’s “assault” on Mar-a-Lago (to quote Trump) is a stunning abuse of power, and one that sets a dangerous precedent for Republicans to come. President Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ), the most partisan since the Obama years, has similarly overstepped its authority by leaps and bounds, choosing to vilify a former president long after his years of public service ended.

And for what reason, exactly? No one knows. But the overarching mission is clear: To stop Trump from running in 2024. Based on recent federal enforcement actions, the endgame is to bar Trump from the 2024 ballot for political reasons.

For years, federal law enforcement agencies have hounded the Trump family, calling the president a Russian pawn and accusing him of betraying his nation, without credible evidence of course. After nearly 700 days of investigation featuring nearly 500 witnesses, the infamous Mueller report on “Russian collision” found nothing. Despite spending more than $30 million to drag Trump’s name through the mud, esteemed bureaucrat Robert Mueller found no credible evidence of said collusion—nothing, nada, zilch.

Yet the Washington swamp grows ever larger, threatening to swallow up those who speak the truth by speaking out against the establishment. Picking up the mantle now is Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Obama-era Supreme Court nominee whose mission is to punish Republicans for daring to do him wrong years ago. Inspired by Mueller, Garland is determined to turn the DOJ into a political weapon wielded against Americans who refuse to toe the leftist line. This is the same man who undermines today’s Supreme Court, accusing conservative judges of eliminating freedom and liberty.

Then there’s FBI Director Christopher Wray, who routinely ducks questions from members of Congress and the mainstream media—while gallivanting on his private jet. Under Wray’s leadership, FBI agents are reportedly stopping investigations into Hunter Biden (e.g. the son of a sitting president) and the Clinton Foundation, scapegoating Trump instead.

Why investigate the family member of the current president, or his shady business dealings in China and Ukraine?

Wray’s FBI also refuses to take the Afghan security threat or U.S.-Mexico border crisis seriously—because that would require doing one’s actual job. When faced with pressing problems at home and abroad, the FBI’s solution is to instead criminalize the Trump family.

Let’s be clear: For all intents and purposes, the FBI and the DOJ are no longer law enforcement purposes; they are effectively tools of the Democratic Party. They are weapons to be used against Donald Trump leading up the 2024 election. You see, Republicans are the true enemies, not Afghan evacuees who pose a security risk to the United States or the millions of illegal immigrants flooding our southern border. No, Republicans are the supervillains in this Bond flick.

In good faith, Americans cannot stand for such unabashed abuses of power. The federal government is crossing a dangerous line, and none more so than the Mar-a-Lago raid. Those responsible must be held accountable for spitting on the rule of law. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is right to introduce articles of impeachment against Garland, and Wray should be added to the list.

As House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy put it, federal agencies have “reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.” Come November, it’s time for serious, long-overdue accountability.

When Republicans win back Congress, they should conduct immediate oversight of the DOJ and FBI. They need to investigate and ultimately impeach both Garland and Wray. Expose their corrupt, illegal behavior for what it is: Blind political obsession with destroying Trump before he can be re-elected in 2024. Their attempts to remove Trump from American politics are nothing short of criminal.

Enough is enough. America, it’s time to fight back against the true enemy of the state—the state itself.

11Op-Ed: ‘Sunset’ Provision in Biden Iran Deal Will Trigger in 3 Years, And It Gets Worse

As President Joe Biden travels across the Middle East, where the Iran nuclear deal is sure to come up, he leaves a country battered by rising food and fuel prices.

American consumers are asking serious questions of the Biden administration. Short on answers, Biden is instead focused on reviving an Iran deal that has been criticized across the political divide — from The Heritage Foundation to the opinion pages of Newsweek and The Atlantic.

Sold as a deterrent against Iranian nuclearization (powered by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terror group), the deal actually just delays the process with a “sunset” provision, which begins to expire after 2025.

The lifting of more than $130 billion worth of sanctions, meanwhile, only emboldens the IRGC to threaten the U.S., Israel and other Western democracies. This is the same IRGC responsible for hundreds of U.S. military deaths. And Biden’s response is to reward the terrorists?

Technically, the American people don’t even know Biden’s response to Iran. Robert Malley, U.S. special envoy for Iran, refuses to testify before Congress. His modus operandi is the closed-door briefing mixed with backroom dealmaking. Without public hearings on the matter, Americans are left guessing on negotiations that impact national security and global energy policy.

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Whereas President Donald Trump remained a steadfast ally of Israel, brokering peace between Jews and Arabs, his successor sides with Palestinian leaderswho regularly terrorize the Israeli people. Rather than operating from a position of strength, Biden opts to beg Saudi Arabia to increase oil production in order to decrease U.S. energy prices.

The nation once denounced as a “pariah” by none other than Biden himself is somehow now America’s only hope for lower gas prices. Therein lies Biden’s real reason for going overseas: Saudi Arabia currently lays claim to the largest spare capacity of the major oil producers, meaning that U.S. dependence has reached an unprecedented level under anti-energy Democrats. So much for human rights.

The entire Biden foreign policy agenda is built on a false premise — that America should be a laggard rather than a leader.

Biden officials refuse to treat energy independence like the top priority that it has become. They are all too willing to set lofty targets for decarbonization, but far less willing to expand domestic oil and gas production in a time of crisis. The federal government continues to impose restrictions on federal oil and gas lease sales, slow down permitting for fossil fuel projects, and punish producers with burdensome climate disclosures.

Should the U.S. re-enter the Iran nuclear deal?

In the process, Biden Democrats are crushing everyday consumers who struggle to make ends meet. Pain at the pump is real, and Biden seems content to prohibit the painkillers. In his first week in office, Biden paused new oil and gas leasing on federal territory, extinguishing nearly 25 percent of U.S. oil and gas production. Now he has the audacity to scapegoat oil and gas companies for not producing enough after decades of vilifying them.

Americans can see through the duplicity and desperation. Coping with record-low approval ratings, Biden Democrats are in deep, deep trouble. They are bracing for a red tsunami in 2022.

But November is still months away. Americans need help now. The U.S. needs leadership from the White House now. The U.S. needs to be energy independent, but Washington, D.C., stands in the way.

Until White House leadership changes, nothing else will. Economic bleeding will continue. Energy dependence will be our reality — that and pointless photo shoots in the Middle East.

11Republicans Must Honor the Trump-McConnell Legacy After SCOTUS Victories

From religious freedom to the right to bear arms and the end of Roe v. Wade, constitutional conservatism is on a roll in America. Today’s Supreme Court is officially the most conservative in 90 years.

After a slew of recent Supreme Court victories, federal power has been diminished. States’ rights, meanwhile, have been restored in more ways than one. The Constitution now has a defender in the Supreme Court. And the radical Left is raging.

Republicans have much to celebrate. And they have two people to thank in particular: Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

It is important to remember that, back in 2013, Senate Democrats—then in the majority—triggered the nuclear option for the first time. Led by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Democrats changed the rules so that cabinet and lower court nominees could be confirmed with a simple majority, rather than the required 60-vote threshold.

Fast forward to just before the 2016 election, when Republicans were in the Senate majority. All of a sudden, Justice Antonin Scalia passed away, offering lame-duck President Obama a historic third appointment to the Supreme Court. In an unprecedented move, McConnell announced that the Senate would not hold any committee hearings on Scalia’s replacement until after the November election. This would provide the new president with the opportunity to make an appointment to fill that vacancy.

Eleven days after his inauguration, President Trump quickly nominated Neil Gorsuch. When it came time to confirm Gorsuch, outraged Democrats made it impossible for Republicans to clear the required 60-vote threshold for a super-majority. It became McConnell’s turn to use the nuclear option and change the rules from 60 votes to 51 votes. And, just like that, the chess board was set for a historic change to the composition of the Supreme Court.

A little over a year later, President Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to fill the position vacated by retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Then, in September 2022, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died from complications of pancreatic cancer at the age of 87. Ginsburg’s death opened a vacancy on the Supreme Court just six weeks before the 2020 presidential election, granting Trump and McConnell another historic opportunity.

Only 38 days before the presidential election, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to succeed Ginsburg. Despite blocking Merrick Garland’s nomination during the 2016 election year, McConnell strategically expedited the confirmation of Barrett, giving Trump his third Supreme Court victory—the most by any president since Ronald Reagan.

Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett have all played pivotal roles in championing the Constitution under President Biden, who relentlessly attacks it. When the sitting U.S. president claims the Constitution “was never absolute,” constitutional jurists are critical to the functioning of American democracy. Trump knew it then, and it’s even more true now.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court isn’t alone in its conservative jurisprudence. Under his leadership, Trump appointed nearly as many federal appeals court judges as his predecessor—in half the time. In doing so, he flipped three of America’s 13 federal appeals courts (in Atlanta, New York, and Philadelphia).

McConnell deserves praise too. His Senate leadership made it possible for Trump to rein in the excesses of the Obama administration and reverse the judiciary’s steady decline into naked liberal activism. Nomination after nomination, McConnell worked closely with the Trump administration to deliver charismatic, qualified believers in the Constitution. Even the liberal media has since conceded defeat, with the Trump-McConnell picks expected to “shape American law for generations.” According to Obama official Christopher Kang, “These judges are going to be ruling for decades to come.”

Of course, “ruling” is the wrong word. Conservatives know that judges don’t in fact rule (memo to liberals), but the judiciary branch does serve as a check and balance against left-wing activism that violates the Constitution. And the judiciary is finally working properly as that counterweight.

However, Republicans cannot rest on their laurels. The unprecedented success of Trump and McConnell—the most impactful Senate Majority Leader ever—only proves that elections matter.

As historians often question, do great men make history, or does history make great men? In an odd twist of fate, two American patriots working in unison have changed the course of history for generations to come.

Let the Supreme Court’s recent rulings serve as inspiration in 2022. With loss after Supreme Court loss, Biden Democrats will fight back. From protests to riots and everything in between, the radical Left will stop at nothing to vilify Republicans.

Republicans must respond: Go to the polls and vote your conscience. Now is not the time to let up—not with a failed leader “in charge” and the economy in flux.

Give thanks for Trump and McConnell by voting Republican in 2022. Honor their legacy by voting for it again.

11It’s official: Biden is the worst president of the 21st century

Work in politics long enough, and you start overthinking it. Who’s the target audience? What’s the key talking point? How do you persuade him or her to support you?

In 2022, Republicans cannot fall into the trap of second-guessing themselves and overcomplicating the talking points. The path forward is simple. All signs point to a “red wave.” Every indicator shows President Biden floundering. His approval rating is stuck in the 30s. Just this week, an ABC News/Ipsos poll revealed only 28% of Americans support Mr. Biden’s handling of inflation.

Republicans are running against Mr. Biden — end of story. That is the answer to all questions. The blueprint is simple: Expose Mr. Biden for his litany of failures since January 2021 — drive the point home, again and again.

Why? Because Mr. Biden is the worst American president in decades. He makes his former boss, President Barack Obama, look like a resounding success by comparison (he wasn’t). Not since the Jimmy Carter era have Americans been “led” by such a stunningly incompetent, utterly ineffectual and downright pitiful administration, and that may be harsh to Mr. Carter (it isn’t).

Whether you support former President Donald Trump or not, good-faith Americans can agree: What we have on our hands now is a national travesty. The Biden administration is a comedy of errors that isn’t funny. Mr. Biden’s first term has not been measured by successes, but rather by record-breaking milestones that were once unimaginable.

Let’s run through the numbers: Americans are most concerned about the U.S. inflation rate, and that rate is at its highest point since 1980. The border crisis is at its worst state in more than two decades. Violent crime is more rampant now than in years past, while record-low numbers of Americans are satisfied with government efforts to address it (24%, to be exact.) Then there’s Afghanistan, where American citizens still remain stranded after one of the most infamous foreign policy blunders in recent memory.

And, on top of that, Mr. Biden has handled the COVID-19 pandemic worse than his predecessor, whose administration ramped up vaccine production and handed Democrats a silver platter. This, after Biden promised to stop the virus and not to mandate vaccines.

Need I go on? On every single metric, the Biden administration is failing. Under Mr. Biden, there is no reason to be optimistic about the economy, illegal immigration, crime, public health or foreign policy. The bread-and-butter issues poll so catastrophically for Biden that gun control is now the latest distraction after the Roe v. Wade hubbub fizzled out. (Brace for another topic change soon.)

But even Americans who don’t watch the news or follow politics cannot ignore Mr. Biden’s blunders. They say so themselves: Nearly 80% of American voters believe their country is currently on the wrong track — 80%. With the economy remaining a top concern, even millions of Democrats are pessimistic about the future. And even in 2010, directly after the Great Recession and right before the Tea Party revolution, more Americans were confident in the future. The same goes for Mr. Trump’s tenure.

We are in uncharted waters. But the journey ahead is clear for Republicans: Make the 2022 election a referendum on Mr. Biden, a president who can’t get out of his own way (when he shows up in public at all). There is no reason to pivot from Mr. Biden’s record — whatever that means. It is the punching bag in 2022, so it’s time to punch away.

By the end of the Carter presidency, Americans were ready for a fresh face, new energy and “morning in America.” Two years into Mr. Obama’s first term, Americans voiced and voted their frustrations with a red wave to wash away all other waves. Until now.

In 2022, Republicans have a chance to make the Tea Party revolution look like a tiny drop in the ocean. On the other side is a hapless, defenseless victim of his own making — the worst American president of the 21st century.

11The 2022 Republican Platform: Economic Recovery, Border Security

A “red wave” is indeed coming in 2022. American voters—including Independents—are more likely to vote Republican in November, with crime and inflation emerging as two feathers in conservative caps.

Much has been written about President Biden’s paltry polling and the window of opportunity it creates for Republicans. But conservatives cannot rest on their laurels in 2022. Republicans cannot get lazy or inconsistent with their messaging. Picking the right candidates still matters, as does choosing the winning talking points.

On that front, Republicans only need to look back to 2016. That year, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton because he focused primarily on two issues: The economy and immigration. Economic recovery and border security became the two prevailing themes of the Trump platform. Six years ago, American voters overwhelmingly trusted Republicans to deliver on budget deficits, government regulations, and taxes. At the same time, the Trump campaign leveraged slogans like “build the wall” in response to growing concerns about illegal immigration. Republicans made border security a “dominant” issue—and it worked.

The same blueprint applies in 2022, and to an even greater degree. Today’s economy is even worse than the one inherited by the Trump administration after the Obama years. The U.S. inflation rate is nearing 10 percent, while economic growth is nonexistent. Employers are struggling to hire workers, and a recession looms.

Then there’s illegal immigration, which has exploded under President Biden. Because of the Biden administration’s open-borders agenda, the U.S.-Mexico border crisis is at its most critical point in decades. After setting a record for illegal border crossings in 2021 (with 1.7 million), the United States is expected to see even more in 2022—more than 2 million. States like Arizona, California, and Texas will be flooded, with drug crime sure to follow. In March alone, law enforcement officials arrested hundreds of thousands of migrants.

Meanwhile, Democrats seem incapable of or uninterested in solving the problem. The Biden administration is giving away free phones to illegal immigrants, while Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas refuses to denounce illegal immigration. In his words, the goal is simply to “increase access” to American soil. Tone-deafness mixed with radical Leftism.

The Biden platform runs contrary to the wishes of most Americans who still believe in enforcing U.S. laws. Sixty percent of American voters are now concerned about illegal immigration, providing Republicans with an even clearer mandate to promote border security. At a time when illegal immigrants pine for more government benefits at the expense of American taxpayers, the Republican Party needs to draw a clear line between common sense and the radical Left.

Conservatives often overcomplicate their messaging, and there’s no need. Focus on pocketbook issues. Propose solutions to the growing inflation problem. Cut back on government spending. Introduce pro-market reforms that benefit employers and employees in an unstable labor market. Make the connection between illegal immigration and elevated crime, especially in southern parts of the country.

Most Americans—all good-faith Americans—want their elected officials to keep things simple. Grow the economy. Stop illegal immigration. Reduce crime. Those must be the pillars of today’s Republican Party, given the electoral success they’ve produced for Republicans of the past. This is the window of opportunity for common sense.

Keep things simple, and the red wave will become a tsunami in November. Stick to a smart platform, and Republicans will win the White House come 2024. Victory becomes inevitable.