Donald Trump Jr. Needs to Slow Down: Donald Trump, Jr. has been the most interesting figure to have emerged from the Trump family’s foray into politics.
As a young man, he was generally viewed as having suffered through a tense and unpleasant relationship with his famous father, Donald Trump, Sr. Yet, as the two men aged, the father and his oldest son—his namesake—appear to have developed a healthier relationship.
In fact, the younger Trump has become one of his father’s most ardent (and most compelling, in my opinion) defenders.
With many competitive father’s and their firstborn sons, it seems as though their early relationship was defined constant combativeness born out of the need to compete; of the father’s fear of being replaced by his younger namesake.
This was especially the case because both Trumps share so many personality traits (bombast, ego, the need to be the center of attention).
But maybe Don Jr. might not want to always take after dear old dad.
Like Father, Like Son
There were some similarities between Donald Trump and his own overbearing father, Fred. It has been reported that Fred Trump used to complain that his son “ran too hot”, especially as Donald Trump was starting out in the cutthroat arena of Manhattan real estate.
Similarly, Donald Trump Jr., is a firebrand.
In many ways, however, I find him to be more compelling than his father. Here is a man who was made to live in his more famous father’s shadow for most of his life and he is stepping out from behind that shadow. Don, Jr. is doing this not in the world of business or even reality television, though the younger Trump is quite capable in both industries. The younger Trump is instead making it in the brutal and corrupt world of politics.
And Don, Jr., is a natural at it.
We all know that former President Trump is the most sought-after Republican to speak to various Republican groups. But right behind the former president is his eldest son. Personally, I find Don Jr., to be way more entertaining and interesting to listen to (even if I think he’s a bit over-the-top at times) rather than his father. Don, Jr., has charisma and dynamism that few others in the GOP have.
Yet, like Fred Trump used to say of Donald Trump, I would like to caution Don, Jr., to not run so hot.
While Liberals reading this piece may be cringing, Don, Jr., has a real future in national politics—irrespective of whether his father survives the various legal woes he now finds himself in. It would be wonderful to see Don, Jr., cutting up the House Floor, taking on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and eventually rising to the United States Senate where he could make a real difference from a legislative standpoint; where the son could ensure that his father’s—and his own—legacy were secured and not gutted by ignorant Democrats and corrupt Republicans.
But as fun and interesting as Don, Jr., can be, he must stop going to extremes on social media. There is a fine line between defending oneself along with their family from scurrilous, partisan attacks and from being a bully.
Americans usually don’t mind a bully. What they do care about is who is the subject of that bullying.
Don’t Make Ken Starr’s Mistake
Remember the Clinton impeachment, when Republicans couldn’t keep their ire trained on the real target (former President Bill Clinton) but soon started lumping in bizarre criticisms of the then-teenaged First Daughter, Chelsea Clinton.
Even though most Americans supported impeaching President Clinton for having lied under oath about his affair with White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, they did not like the way in which the Republicans were pursuing Clinton. It wasn’t that the people didn’t want to attack Bill Clinton. It was that most people couldn’t understand or justify why the Republicans started attacking Clinton’s underage daughter.
At that point, whatever momentum the GOP had in their attacks on Clinton started to slow. Ultimately, the people turned against the impeachment in much the same way the American people abandoned their initial support for Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s (R-WI) communist hunts in the 1950s.
Come Back From the Line, Don, Jr.
Don Jr., crossed a dangerous line on social media when he recently tweeted an image of the judge that was presiding over former President Trump’s trial in Manhattan. That picture was a personal image that Don, Jr., had discovered online featuring the judge and his young daughter—who Breitbart reports as having worked on the Kamala Harris presidential campaign in the contentious 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary.
The point that Don, Jr., was making with that post was that the entire proceeding against his father in Manhattan was a political show trial (it is). Yet, what Don, Jr.’s millions of followers on social media took away was that this young woman was a potential target to be threatened and bullied as a way of placing undue pressure on her father.
Most Americans find this behavior reprehensible. Whether Don Jr. intended for that to happen is irrelevant. He was likely just zealously defending his father and his family as he always has. In so doing, however, there is now collateral damage. And it is not just the possible safety concerns for the young daughter of the Manhattan judge (the death threats have already begun rolling in).
Don Jr.’s action may damage his father’s reelection bid by turning off critical moderate voters in the General Election in 2024. Former President Trump’s biggest problem is getting the votes of moderates. Trump has a strong base of support. That base may be enough to win him the GOP Primary. It is likely not large enough to secure for the forty-fifth president a turn to be the forty-seventh president.
Here’s How Don, Jr. Secures His Political Future
Thankfully for Don, Jr., this is not a potential career-ender. In politics, unlike war, you can die repeatedly and still stage a comeback. And the forty-fifth president’s oldest son should not entirely abandon his fire-breathing conservative persona. It is his strongest asset.
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He just needs to learn to modulate a bit. Especially the nearer to the General Election we move—or the closer to Don, Jr.’s own possible election we get.
He should be viewed as a fierce fighter and defender of all things “MAGA”.
The former First Son, however, should not be viewed as a dangerous bully out to endanger young women whose father happens to be the presiding judge over Donald Trump’s criminal case in Manhattan.
Don Jr., should issue a statement apologizing for and explaining why he posted the image, and he should encourage his followers to keep their ire trained not on people ancillary to the case but to focus on those who are really responsible for this shame proceeding: the George Soros-backed Democratic Party district attorney, Alvin Bragg, and President Joe Biden.
I want to see Don Jr. as an elected leader at some point. He won’t get there if he’s bullying innocent young women who just happen to disagree politically with the Trump family politically—even if that young woman’s father is presiding over a garbage case designed to ruin Donald Trump’s chances of being made president again.
Opinion Author Biography
A 19FortyFive Senior Editor, Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (May 16), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (July 23). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
