Earlier this month, the Cornell Republicans voted to endorse President Donald Trump for re-election. The move comes at an important time in our nation’s history, as two candidates have never been more different. Donald Trump believes in America while Joe Biden believes in socialism. Anything short of endorsing Trump would have been a vote for the radical left.
The endorsement redeems the club from its significant mistake in 2016 when it decided to endorse Gary Johnson. While it is important to note that no current member of the Cornell Republicans was part of that cohort, this time around it was still a contentious vote. The “Never Trump” ethos that dominated the CRs for so long is still present today, albeit less pervasive.
To be frank, many of the Ivy League Republicans don’t like him because they do not like his style. They look down on him. How can college students look down on an international business mogul, self made billionaire, and president of the United States, you may ask? That is the great irony.
I’m proud to be among those who successfully led the effort to endorse President Trump. At times, this led to robust debate between “establishment” members of the political scene at Cornell and myself. However, this did not stop me from building coalitions and slowly working toward my goal – having a true conservative movement at Cornell unafraid to stand with the sitting Republican president.
I knew that, as with many things in life, someone had to go first. One group had to be the first to endorse, and it likely wouldn’t be the College Republicans. So, I pitched the idea of endorsing Trump to the Cornell Review’s Editorial Board. The decision to write an op-ed in support of Trump was unanimous and set a precedent for what was acceptable dialogue on campus. Undeterred by the anti-free speech climate that has grasped campuses all across America, we unapologetically endorsed Trump. The post received 562 retweets and 639 likes, and was the most far reaching endorsement in the history of any student organization or newspaper at Cornell.
I would be remiss not to acknowledge James Lepone, who founded America First Cornell in Spring 2020. James has been a consistent advocate for Trump’s brand of populism, which is what got the president elected in the first place. People voted for Trump because they were tired of the political class on both sides. They were tired of politicians who promised the world but could not deliver. They were tired of politicians who would say whatever they thought the people wanted to hear to get elected.
Trump could very well be on the verge of causing a permanent realignment. This is because he’s moved the party, both in terms of policy and rhetoric, to places it’s never been before. Prior to Trump’s campaign, the GOP only talked about repealing Obamacare. However, they had no intention of replacing it. This all changed when the Trump campaign began to write “repeal and replace” into the speeches. More importantly, as president, Trump has taken steps to confront big pharma that other Republican presidents would not have.
The Republican Party is no longer the party of Mitt Romney, who looked down on 47% of the American people. How can you represent and govern over people you resent and hold contempt for? This was the same problem Hillary Clinton had in 2016, when she referred to half of Trump’s voters – over 31 million Americans – as deplorable and irredeemable. After she lost the election, she even went as far as claiming that states that didn’t vote for her are “backwards”.
The future is Americanism. The future is hope, love, and respect for our fellow Americans. We must talk to the great people of this country honestly and transcend partisan politics. We must be both principled and pragmatic in our approach, and consolidate around the core values that unite us all – freedom of speech, opportunity for success, and liberty.
