This Was Not A Drill
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
It’s taken a while to process what occurred Saturday evening. I’m still processing. I received a text from a dear friend after being out of pocket most of the afternoon: “Trump has been shot.” As the fallout unfolded and the images were published, I felt something in me shift. I think many people felt something in them shift. As Trump got up and exclaimed, “Fight! Fight!,” I watched in shock. I watched it again. The second time, I was in awe. And the third time, a wave of emotion hit me. In that moment, it was very clear that this was for real.
I won’t go into how Trump has aggravated the ever-loving crap out of me. We all know his flaws, and right now they aren’t worth repeating. I have noticed that this time around, he seems to be taking this candidacy more seriously. He’s… different. He has a different resolve. I’ve said to others, “I think he finally knows this isn’t a game.” Yesterday, what came into focus was he’s serious. This fight is serious. At this very point in time, the Left has thrown literally everything in the book at President Trump. Yesterday and the fallout since has proved that their motives are not pro-American. Trump, for better or worse, does care about this country. This absolutely isn’t a game and he knows it.
I watched Megyn Kelly’s emergency broadcast about this last night. She recounted the moment when she interviewed him nearly a year ago, where she asked him about why he continues down this road at nearly 78 years old and continues to fight when he could be golfing. She asked him, “Is it worth it?” Without missing a beat, he said, “Yeah,” and he continued explaining. Last night, she went on to say after showing the clip of the interview, “I believe he genuinely loves this country.” After last night, if I ever had a doubt in my mind that he did (it wasn’t much, believe me), every ounce of that doubt was officially cast out.
It’s hard to put into words what is going through my mind. I’m sure many of you are in the same boat. I hope that we all take valuable lessons from this: The legacy media totes water for the Left and are full of sh*t, words have meaning, the Left really is THIS crazy. Most importantly, I hope we all learn to get beyond ourselves and actually unite. I hope that any of you who had reservations before about Trump can realize what is at stake here. This isn’t about him; this is about America, and yesterday was not a drill.
I’ve seen the group chats of the party activists fighting with each other. I hope each and every one of you that have fought each other in those groups take a long, hard look in the mirror and realize each of us have responsibility and blame to own for the infighting. It’s time to get beyond ourselves and truly unite. Don’t tell the other faction that you’re sparring with to “get over themselves” until you are willing to do some self-reflection. Either you’re all serious about wanting to heal our divides or you’re just going to keep bickering. Calling one another “Crazy MAGA” (there are some true crazies, I know) or “RINO Establishment” (there definitely are some of those, too) doesn’t accomplish anything. Instead of pointing out each other’s differences, for the love of God, I’m begging you, find similarities. Stop preaching Reagan’s line about “an 80% friend isn’t a 20% enemy” until you are actually willing to walk that talk.
We are all guilty of this childish BS. I’m not naive to the fact that there are some truly unreasonable people that have taken over parts of the GOP, especially here in Georgia. Some of those people are just going to be impossible, I know. But those of us who have self-awareness and are willing to self-reflect owe it to ourselves and our country to do better. Fundamentally, we are all Americans and we need to keep that at the forefront of our thought as we trudge forward. After yesterday, I think Trump proved to us all that he’s an American first and foremost. I believe he believes that. In that moment after the gunshot, he showed us all he really is that tough and he really is fighting for the United States. Again, yesterday was not a drill, and as President Trump posted earlier today, “UNITE AMERICA!”
