Three Reasons Why Donald Trump Shouldn't Be Our Next President
Over the past two years, a significant number of right-wing Americans haven’t been able to get over the four glorious years of the Donald Trump presidency. And according to Reuters, 53% of Republicans believe that Donald Trump is the true president as of May of 2021. I assume these numbers would be similar today. And while I don’t wish to get into how Trump actually lost the 2020 election (which he did), I’d like to give three reasons why Republicans should be advocating for a new candidate in 2024 and how this will hopefully help conservatives stop living in the past and look forward to a brighter future.
First, Donald Trump is too old. In fact, he’s currently 75– that’s 15 years older than Barack Obama– and would end his second presidency at age 82 if he were to win in 2024. You might wonder why Trump’s age is a disqualifying factor in my book, the answer is simple. The Baby Boomer generation needs to learn to pass the baton. One sign of these chaotic and dysfunctional times is that the older generations seem to have absolutely no desire or ability to pass down wisdom, knowledge, or leadership to upcoming generations. This obviously isn’t just a Republican problem— President Joe Biden is 79 years old; Hillary Clinton is 74 years old. The list of old and washed up Republican and Democratic candidates who refuse to give up power is long and tiring. It’s time for a new generation to take on the responsibilities of leading America. As the Baby Boomer generation dies off, we need to have a serious conversation about who will be there to take the lead when they’re gone. Young, strong, and innovative leaders are required to lead in this ever-changing country. And it’s time we let them.
Second, whether you like it or not, there is a huge chunk of America that just hates Donald Trump. It seems that in most surveys regarding Trump’s likeability, more than 50% of Americans say that they just don’t like the guy. Why is this a problem? I know there is that group of right-wing conspiracy theorist Trump supporters that don’t care about the centrist or left-wingers who hate Trump, but the disdain for him seems to be a problem even for the rest of conservatives and, of course, liberals. This is a problem for many reasons, one being that unity needs to be a primary running point for the Republican side of the aisle in 2024 and let’s be honest—Trump won’t do that. Unifying Republicans and Democrats is possible. Look at Virginia. Glen Youngkin flipped the state red in 2021 by unifying both parties around the “culture war.” What we found out from that election is that Republican and classical liberal Democrats don’t want their kids being indoctrinated in the public-school systems. This became a staple in Youngkin’s victory. He started fighting political battles, not economic ones, and as a result he won the war. America needs a leader who will fight to unite the people, not to complain about the “stolen election” of 2020.
Finally, we have Ron DeSantis! For the love of God, people, we will most likely be able to vote for Florida governor, Ron DeSantis. And maybe I’m wrong here, but DeSantis seems to be the best bet for a Republican win in 2024. According to floridapolitics.com, DeSantis has a 54% approval rating as of last month compared to his 38% disapproval rating. Take a look at President Biden. He has only a 43% approval rating. DeSantis is within five percentage points of Biden when comparing disapproval to approval ratings. This is an unbelievable statistic— though not really, because as we all know, Biden isn’t doing so well. Aside from the approval ratings, DeSantis has been a beacon of hope for the Republican party over the past two years of COVID. Florida ranks 16th in The U.S in COVID death rate while having the second oldest population in the United States. Along with keeping Floridians healthy, he has kept the Florida economy healthy and alive. Florida ranks high in employment rate compared to other states and created 479,300 new jobs in 2021, increasing by 5.6 percent over the year, which is 1.1 percent faster than the national average. There are countless reasons why Republicans should vote for and support Governor Ron DeSantis, and since 2024 is coming up faster than we think, it’s time we start looking at our options. And did I mention he’s only 43 years old?
I simply cannot advocate for a second Trump presidency, and I don’t think American Republicans should either. We have better options and it’s time to pass the baton on to the next generation of leaders. Trump had his time, and he did a great job, but America is moving fast, and we need a young, strong, and confident leader to move us in the right direction. And I fear that that leader is not Donald Trump.
Andrew Schmitt is an entrepreneur and founder of the Optiv Network. He's started the Optiv Theology Podcast, Optiv Music Podcast, and the Dr. Scott Jensen Podcast (which consistently ranks in the Top 200 "Government" podcasts in the world). Andrew currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota with his wife, but calls Madison, Wisconsin home.
