Although I do not know him personally, former President Donald Trump appears to be an egotistical, thin-skinned blowhard. Many, including the majority of our media outlets, purport that Trump is a xenophobe, racist, misogynist, and even an insurrectionist. Sheesh, that’s a lot of ists. The fact is all those cute little labels are just opinions and speculation held by those who have and always will despise the 45th President of the United States. Everyone’s certainly entitled to their opinion, but spouting off fiction as fact should not go unchecked.

Call the events of January 6th, 2021 what you will, but please know it was not an insurrection. Legal scholars have said as much, and I tend to agree. Why do you suppose, still to this day, not one protester, trespasser, or vandalizer from the January 6th incident has been found guilty of insurrection? Storming the Nation’s Capitol was undoubtedly misguided and objectionable, but an insurrection – no. Yet that term has been recklessly used an exhaustive amount of time, in many failed attempts, to prevent former President Trump from seeking another term in the Oval Office.

I find it extremely difficult to defend someone like Trump – just the sight of him gives me the willies – but defend him I must. Not because I like the guy. I do not! But because he’s a human being who’s been severely mistreated (like no other presidential candidate) since he formally entered the political arena in June of 2015. Some criticism of Trump is much deserved, but often times it is not. It’s easy to vilify an unlikeable character, but conjuring up falsehoods, either by individuals or the media, to “prove” a point just isn’t right.

For example, remember the whole “Trump colluded with Russia” scandal that turned out to be absolutely false? After being deemed guilty, by the media and more, we eventually learned the truth after an extensive four-year investigation, yet some stubborn anti -Trumpers still won’t accept the results. I’m still waiting (but not holding my breath) for the trusted news outlets and talk show hosts, especially the likes of Colbert and Kimmel, to admit they were wrong and issue formal apologies to the former president. Speaking of Russia, I’m convinced in my heart of hearts that Vladimir Putin never would’ve invaded Ukraine if Trump had won a second term in office. So there’s that.

Donald Trump himself is not immune to using the same lazy method for conjuring up a falsehood, for his own supposed benefit. He insists he did not lose the 2020 presidential election, due to voter fraud, and some actually believe that as well. Let me be clear, there is some voter fraud committed in every election, and the 2020 election was no exception. I do wish the media and the Democrats would at least admit this fact to gain some credibility with me. However, the level of voter fraud is rarely enough to change the results of an election, and again the 2020 election was no exception. So let me also be clear, Donald Trump indeed lost the 2020 presidential election.

So, why would anyone vote for Trump? Maybe because, unfortunately, only a Democrat or Republican has a legitimate shot at winning the presidency, and Trump is the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, like it or not. Obviously, the ideologies of the two major parties aren’t nearly the same, and there are stark differences between the two candidates on many issues including illegal immigration, foreign relations, and “climate change.” And the only thing I’ll say about abortion is that at the end of the day I’d rather there be less abortions than more abortions. The Democratic Party continues drifting further left, while Trump actually brought the far right back to the center a bit. As a moderate I don’t hate that. (If you can recall, Donald Trump was a Democrat at one time and even friends with the Clintons.)

I always used to say the party affiliation of the president really didn’t matter much, because my lifestyle never seemed to change regardless of who was in charge. However, the prices of just about everything has skyrocketed these past few years. My household’s grocery bills are ridiculous, and our car insurance has more than doubled (through no fault of our own – same vehicles with no accidents or tickets) since Joe Biden took office. Coincidence? Both Biden and Trump are currently asking voters the (Ronald Reagan coined) tried-and-true campaign question, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” I know my answer.