Clay: Why I’m Voting For Donald Trump

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On Tuesday, I will vote for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

As a preliminary, I don’t believe in endorsements. I think all of you are smart enough to make your own decisions without needing to see what a newspaper, union, celebrity, athlete, or D-List opinionist like me is doing with his or her vote. The great thing about American democracy is all of our votes are equal. So I’m not telling you to vote either with me or against me. You should make your own decisions irrespective of what I say in this column.

But what I do believe in is authenticity.

For better or worse, I tell you every single day exactly what I think about a variety of issues. I don’t expect you all to agree with me on every one of those issues, but I do believe that the reason the OutKick audience is exploding across audio, video, and web is because there’s a deep and abiding desire in this country for people from all walks to life to say exactly what they believe and not apologize for their opinions.

Extreme media bias in this country is very real. Often it’s hidden under the cloak of “objective journalism.” At OutKick, we have a wide variety of opinions we publish every single day. I don’t agree with every opinion on this website. It would be impossible because we have so many opinions every day. But I am proud of the fact that OutKick represents the First Amendment wing of the First Amendment party.

I’ve never been more proud to own a media company than over this past year. I think many of the things we are arguing are very important. But like the country, OutKick has people voting for Joe Biden and people voting for Donald Trump, and people who simply won’t vote at all. I don’t believe any media entity should have people who agree on everything. In fact, I think that’s dangerous.

That’s why more so now than at any point in my life, I believe every single media member should address his or her audience and say exactly what they are doing with their own vote this year. I think authenticity matters, and I believe audiences should know what public figures who claim to be unbiased do when they enter the privacy of a voting booth. This is not a new position for me. I have shared my presidential votes publicly every year that I’ve been a public figure.

For those of you who are new to OutKick: here are my presidential votes since I became a public media figure in 2004:

2004: John Kerry
2008: Barack Obama
2012: Barack Obama
2016: Gary Johnson
2020: Donald Trump

I also voted for Al Gore in 2000 and worked on his political campaign as a college student.

For much of my adult life, I considered myself a Democrat, but in 2016 that began to change. In 2016, I wasn’t happy with the choices between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, so I voted for the Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson. As a general rule, I have very many libertarian beliefs — I’m not a social justice warrior, but I also believe that adults, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, gay or straight, should be left to their own devices to pursue happiness as they see fit. I don’t care whom you marry. I don’t care whom you sleep with. I don’t care whom you worship. I believe you should have the freedom to make those choices.

I want the government telling me less, not more, about what I can and can’t do every single day.

My political beliefs are not new — if anything I believe the exact same things now for the most part that I did when I began voting for president in 2000 — it’s that the world around me has changed.

The Democratic party has moved in a massive way towards the far left wing over the past decade. They’ve embraced the idea of reparations, defunding the police, and of labeling our country systemically racist and unfair. I think all of these ideas, frankly, are madness.

And in the process I believe the Democratic Party, often fueled by a mob of blue checkmark brigade members on social media, has lost its connection with the regular people in this country. The Democratic Party used to be the party of average working people in this country, people like my mom and dad, who never made more than $50,000 a year in their careers. Now it has left those people behind.

Indeed, if you go back and look at Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, that would be a Republican platform today. In fact, 2020 Democrats on social media would call 2008 Barack Obama — who opposed gay marriage and believed in immigration reform — a homophobic racist.

I supported Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and I still believe he was a uniquely talented voice for our country. I don’t regret my votes for him at all. But I do think the lesson the Democratic Party took from Obama’s wins was the wrong one — they embraced identity politics as the guiding light to lead them to success in the years ahead. They did this, I believe, because Obama motivated black turnout like no politician before him. But Obama wasn’t a politician who focused on identity politics. His campaign was not laced with accusations of systemic inequality, and it didn’t embrace the idea that America was a corrupt and venal land filled with racist and evil people.

Obama believed in the innate goodness of the American people and his story, his rise to the highest office in the world, represented the true fruition of the American dream. If we could elect as president a black man from Hawaii, the son of an African immigrant, a man with no political lineage or particular inside track to success, then how could anyone argue that success was walled off to anyone based on their identity at birth?

Hillary Clinton wanted Obama’s voters, but she lacked his political gifts. She tried to roll up black support by arguing Trump was racist. It’s the same choice being made by Biden today. I fundamentally reject the idea that America is a racist country. In fact, I think America is the least racist country in the history of the world.

I don’t believe any other country could elect Barack Obama.

I don’t believe Donald Trump is racist. I wouldn’t be voting for him if I believed he was racist. I believe we have to stop accusing people we disagree with of being racist, sexist, homophobic or whatever other personal insult you want to apply. Beat people on the issues, not with insults.

Our politicians don’t talk about it enough, but do you know who the highest earning group of people in America are today? Asian men. If America’s a hopelessly racist country, how do Asian men make more money than anyone in the country today? And if America is so hopelessly racist, how do immigrants of all racial backgrounds risk death to enter our land and then, once here, begin making more money than native born Americans within a generation?

Lots of people talk about leaving America, but do you know how many actually leave?

Almost no one.

That’s because America is, and has been for a long time, the greatest country in the history of the world. We are not perfect, but we are the least flawed country to ever exist in the history of humanity.

Having said all this, ultimately the 2020 presidential campaign is not about the past. It’s about the future. These are the five issues that matter the most to me, and the more I have studied them over the past year, the more I’m convinced Donald Trump is on the right side of these five issues.

1. We need to end cancel culture and allow a robust marketplace of ideas to flourish on our social media platforms.

I abhor cancel culture and identity politics with every fiber of my being. I believe the combination of these two factions — which effectively rule social media — represents the biggest internal threat to America in my life.

We have to stop canceling people. Period. None of us should be defined by a single Tweet, a single Instagram post, a single Facebook thought jotted off in an emotional moment from our phones as we juggle countless responsibilities of work and home life.

I believe the vast majority of Americans of all races and ethnicities agree with me about cancel culture being wrong for our country, but unfortunately I also believe the vast majority of Americans live in terror that they might be canceled at any moment. That their comment might go viral and they might be attacked by an angry mob and left without a job or a way to support their family.

In writing this column stating I’m voting for Donald Trump as president, I will become the first member of the sports media employed by CBS, NBC, ESPN or Fox to make this public statement. That’s not because I’m the only Trump voter in sports media. It’s because everyone else is terrified of losing their jobs if they publicly support the president. That’s the kind of environment that cancel culture creates, a universe where people don’t even feel safe telling you how they’re voting for fear they could lose their jobs as a result.

If wealthy people in my industry are terrified to say how they’re voting, imagine how a guy or girl making an average, or below average living, might feel? This isn’t healthy for our country.

I believe in the basic decency of the American people, but I don’t believe in the basic decency of big tech companies increasingly ruling our digital town square. I believe they have manipulated our emotions and created a fundamentally artificial representation of the world. Twitter is not the real world. It’s a carnival funhouse mirror.

A robust First Amendment requires an uninhibited — and free — marketplace of ideas where everyone is able to say exactly what they believe in their private lives without fear of cancellation. We need wider and more substantial debates than the artificially circumscribed lanes of debate which are being constantly narrowed and limited by social media companies today.

We can’t cancel cancel culture without expanding the parameters of our national debate and ending the rig job that exists on social media today. The attempt to suppress the New York Post’s Hunter Biden story should terrify every American regardless of your politics. We can’t allow big tech to pick sides, and it’s clear to me they have picked a side.

I believe Donald Trump is an often inarticulate voice in the fight against cancel culture — yes, his Tweets sometimes drive me crazy too — but I believe he’s ultimately on the right side of this issue. If Joe Biden wins, I think cancel culture will get worse, not better.

2. We can’t shut down the country’s economy again because of COVID.

I believe we have to learn to live with COVID, not curl up in the fetal position in our basements and shut down everything in the country.

COVID isn’t going away until we have herd immunity or a vaccine. That will likely take at least six or eight more months to occur. We can’t shut down our economy while we wait to get to this point.

The data is clear: we should have never locked down our schools and we should have never shut down our economy in the first place.

Back in March when everyone was uncertain about all the COVID impacts, a couple of weeks of shutdown may have been excusable. But since that time, it’s completely inexcusable.

The data doesn’t lie.

According to the CDC, the death rate for those people infected with COVID is minuscule. Most young people are under greater threat from the seasonal flu. Most healthy people under seventy having nothing to fear from this virus.

We need to protect the most vulnerable and aged people in nursing homes, but the rest of us need to be back to work, school, and play. We can’t live our lives in perpetual fear of death. I may die tomorrow. If that happens, I’ll be fine with that. Because I never lived a day ruled by fear in my life. The moment you allow fear to overtake you, I don’t believe life is worth living any more.

I believe Joe Biden’s entire 2020 campaign, when you boil it down, has been based on COVID fear porn. That’s it, the entire thing.

If COVID doesn’t arrive in our country, Trump would have cruised to a 2020 election win. He’d have had the greatest economy in the world. He’d have even more black and Hispanic support. Joe Biden would have lost, and I don’t believe the electoral college would have been close.

But then along came COVID.

The president’s response, like every leader’s response around the world, was flawed. China lied, the WHO failed us, and American and European democracies continue to bear the brunt of China’s dishonesty and dereliction. While America has had many struggles, our national COVID death rate, per capita, is lower than many European democracies.

But the media’s maniacal and dishonest focus on cases and deaths with COVID, not of COVID, have completely obscured the disastrous failures of our national shutdown, a shutdown which endures in many parts of our country. The lasting impact of the shutdown is going to be more severe for most people in this country than the lasting impact of COVID.

We’ve made the cure worse than the disease.

We absolutely, positively cannot shutdown this economy again.

I’ve fought as hard as I possibly can for sports to be played this summer and fall because there is no logical reason to keep sports from playing. It’s completely insane that LA Dodger fans can’t drive to Dodger Stadium in LA to watch a game in person, but they can drive to LAX, board a plane flight to Dallas and go watch the Dodgers play in Texas.

That’s completely nonsensical.

The South has had the best response to this virus in the country: balance out risk, but keep the economy open.

I believe if Joe Biden is elected, there is a good chance he will try and shut down this country again.

On this issue alone, I’d be willing to make my presidential choice this year, but the COVID issue just strengthens my resolve to support Trump.

3. I believe in confronting China as aggressively as possible.

Donald Trump is the most aggressive confronter of China in my lifetime. That doesn’t mean he’s perfect — I actually wish he was more combative in standing up to China — but he’s far more aggressive than anyone else in my life.

We are in the middle of a new cold war, and most Americans still haven’t realized it.

There’s a true battle over who will dominate the 21st century around the globe. Will it be China, with their lack of basic human rights, their trampling of free speech values, and their derogation of freedom of religion and the free exchange of ideas on the internet, or will it be America that dominates the 21st century?

Make no mistake, China is actively using American institutions like the NBA to try and tear down our American cultural systems founded on capitalism and free expression of ideas. What’s more, China is attempting to spread Chinese values around the world. They’re no longer content to merely suppress their own people. They want to suppress the world.

In far too many cases, Democrats have bent to China’s will.

We need to confront China like we confronted Russia during the Cold War.

We need to break China and send the message to the rest of the world that their communism is not the route to prosperity and free thought. It hinders rather than expands world enlightenment.

I believe Donald Trump will stand up to China more than Joe Biden will.

If you doubt me, consider this: if Trump loses, there will be parties in the street in Iran and in China because China and Iran want the president to lose.

If America’s greatest enemies — and the greatest enemies of freedom in the world — cheer a president’s defeat, how is that a good thing?

Newsflash, it isn’t.

4. I believe in keeping nine justices on the Supreme Court.

I can’t support Joe Biden because Kamala Harris was part of the worst moment in American politics in my lifetime: the 2018 Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. Harris, who was one of the leaders of the Senate Democrats in those hearings, embarrassed herself and her country with the histrionic performances she put forth during those hearings.

The fact that grown adults quizzed a potential Supreme Court justice about his high school yearbook was a low point for Senate discourse in the 21st century.

Even today, neither Joe Biden nor Kamala Harris have been willing to answer whether they support the radical idea of packing the court with new justices in the event they are elected.

If the Democrats decide to add justices, then it won’t end there. Eventually Republicans will take back the Senate and the White House, and they will add their own justices. This threatens to turn the Supreme Court into a kangaroo court. Eventually we might have 25 justices, an unwieldly and impossible court to manage.

I’m not going to agree with all of the decisions rendered by Justice Gorsuch, Justice Kavanaugh, or Justice Coney Barrett, but all three of these choices were eminently reasonable Supreme Court nominees. I think they’ll do a fine job.

If Joe Biden wins this election and a justice dies or resigns from the court, I’ll support Biden’s right to pick a justice of his own choosing.

But we have to stop this ridiculous idea of packing the court.

I believe Joe Biden, who I think is a good and decent man and likely agrees with me that court packing is an awful idea, will be unable to stand up to the rabid ideologues on the left wing of his party on this issue. Frankly, I’m not sure he’s healthy enough to complete a full term in office, and I believe Kamala Harris is likely to direct many of the decisions made by his administration.

I think that will be very bad for our country.

Heck, the fact that Joe Biden hasn’t even been forced to give his own opinion on court packing is a fundamental failure of our media.

5. I believe in American exceptionalism and a capitalistic democracy, and I support our police and our military absolutely.

I believe America is the greatest force for good that has ever existed in world history. I believe in Western Civilization. I believe in equality before the law, in the brilliance of our founders, and in the importance of upholding the values they brought to bear in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.

I’m tired of seeing politicians apologize for America. Even worse than that, I’m tired of seeing police officers attacked on American streets for seeking to preserve law and order and American politicians excusing looting and violence.

It makes me sick to my stomach that the rates of murder and shooting have skyrocketed this year in most of our big cities. Because we’ve taken away the ability of police to do their jobs, the result is more deaths than we’ve seen in many years.

I’m fed up with media dishonesty, with an unwillingness to report facts that countervail the narrative that this country is evil and racist and dishonest and filled with moral turpitude.

I will support whomever is elected president in 2020, and I will root for that president to do well no matter whether I vote for him or not.

But ultimately I believe Donald Trump is the best option to make America even better than it is today.

I don’t expect all of you reading this to agree with me, but I believe it remains my obligation as a media member with a large audience on audio, video, and social media to be as 100% honest with you as I can every single day.

Which is why I’m letting you know that, come Tuesday, I will be voting for Donald Trump in 2020.

Written by Clay Travis

Clay Travis is the founder of the fastest growing national multimedia platform, OutKick, that produces and distributes engaging content across sports and pop culture to millions of fans across the country. OutKick was created by Travis in 2011 and sold to the Fox Corporation in 2021.

One of the most electrifying and outspoken personalities in the industry, Travis hosts OutKick The Show where he provides his unfiltered opinion on the most compelling headlines throughout sports, culture, and politics. He also makes regular appearances on FOX News Media as a contributor providing analysis on a variety of subjects ranging from sports news to the cultural landscape. Throughout the college football season, Travis is on Big Noon Kickoff for Fox Sports breaking down the game and the latest storylines.

Additionally, Travis serves as a co-host of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, a three-hour conservative radio talk program syndicated across Premiere Networks radio stations nationwide.

Previously, he launched OutKick The Coverage on Fox Sports Radio that included interviews and listener interactions and was on Fox Sports Bet for four years. Additionally, Travis started an iHeartRadio Original Podcast called Wins & Losses that featured in-depth conversations with the biggest names in sports.

Travis is a graduate of George Washington University as well as Vanderbilt Law School. Based in Nashville, he is the author of Dixieland Delight, On Rocky Top, and Republicans Buy Sneakers Too.

109 Comments

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  6. Clay, this is just incredible work. I will be re-reading this and sending out to my friends and family. Thanks for the honesty and vulnerability.

    I did vote for Trump in 2016, but had no plans to do so until I drove past my polling place on Election Day. I thought of a Clinton administration and what that would do to empower cancel culture and censorship. I hit the brakes, parked, stood in line, and figured at least I could raise one last middle finger to the mob.

    There is no need to say, “Imagine my surprise.”

    I reasoned that if I got nothing but the following out of a Trump administration, I would be happy with my vote- one or two SC justices; perhaps a decent tax cut; exposure of the mainstream media as a mentally-ill clown show; and the immolation of the legacy Republican party.

    Now I can say, imagine my surprise when I got those things in spades, PLUS (but wait! there’s more!): three SC justices, de-escalation in North Korea, de-escalation in Syria, drawdown in troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, lay the groundwork for China confrontation, lay the groundwork for cutting down Big Tech, Israel embassy to Jerusalem, ongoing illegal immigration reforms, beginning of peace accords in Arab-Israeli world, huge economic gains, most pro-life president in my lifetime, most 2A president in my lifetime, and a genuine affinity for working class people.

    Milton Friedman said, “It’s nice to elect the right people, but that isn’t the way you solve things. The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right things.” I am happy that Donald Trump is the “wrong person” doing the right things.

  9. Well said Clay. It’s honestly incredible to see how far left the Democratic party has shifted since ’16. My grandparents were raised democrat and always voted that way, but the moderate portion of that party has completely disappeared. It’s gone far too extreme for many.

  10. Oh boy. You’re gonna get torpedoed for talking positively about Obama. But that’s why I’ve followed you for nearly a decade. You’re one of the very few who can objectively look at both ends of the spectrum. Not “Everything/everyone left/right bad, everything/everyone left/right good, centrists are undecided morons, blah blah blah.”

    I think back to my political science course during the mid-2000s. This was a weekly three-hour course. Our professor tried to have class debates. Almost nobody got involved. Within 45 minutes, she’d give up and let class out. High school was the same; most people hated / didn’t understand politics and stayed away from it. Now everyone is at each other’s throats. People aren’t anymore educated or smarter than they were years ago.

    The new racism isn’t black vs white, it’s left vs right (cue smartass dipshit complaining that left vs right isn’t a race). God forbid you’re a centrist / uninterested because then you’re getting fucked both ways.

    • In his defense, as a lifelong democrat before social media puilled the left all the way to Mao Zedong, the idea of voting for John McCain and Mitt Romney couldn’t have sat well with him. Looking back, they turned out to be RINO/uniparty swamp rats. Without Obama, we may not have Trump. Without Trump, where the hell would we be right now? Would we know just how disgusting the media is? Would we know just what insane ideologies are spreading on our college campuses? What the left is willing to do to people who disagree with them? What things would Romney and McCain have done differently than Obama, specifically to your point about drone strikes with near-complete disregard for foreign civilians? Especially a hawk like McCain.

      And I say all this as someone who was too young to vote in 2008 but soured on Obama within a year, and pulled the lever as hard as I could for Romney. Honestly, with hindsight, Obama was the better choice that got us a non-politician in the white house for two terms [yeah, I’m saying Trump will win].

      • Feddy, good point: “Without Trump, would we know just how disgusting the media is?”
        My guess is that we wouldn’t know the extent of it.

        And Clay, great points made in your column. Thank you for writing this column and all the hard work you and everyone at OutKick continues to do.

    • The fight is no longer between left and right, or liberal and conservative. The fight now is between free and unfree. I’m voting for the freedom candidate; Donald Trump.

    • Agreed. Obama is the most overrated president of all time. Our country regressed in race relations under his leadership because of the tone he set in the Oval Office. He also single-handedly created ISIS because of his Middle East policies, empowered Iran to build a nuclear program, let Russia overtake Ukraine without a peep, let China steal classified intel, allowed Kadafi to be assassinated to destabilize the Middle East and cause more violence, and did nothing to improve our situation with North Korea …among other poor decisions he led. Obama is the single WORST foreign policy president we have ever had. Clay’s on his own cheering for that guy. Obama harmed this nation with his leadership.

  13. Very solid. I’d never tell anyone else who to vote for, but I would ask people to take a look at Clay’s 5 points and make an informed decision after considering those points.

    The point about being afraid to say who you’re voting for is real. Fear as in the repercussions of your opinion possibly being different than your friends and your co-workers, meaning they cancel you. It’s a smarter decision to not reveal your candidate of choice. You don’t want to all of a sudden be getting the short end of the stick at work, or shut out of possible salary increases or promotions, simply because your political views aren’t the same as your boss. The world shouldn’t operate this way, but it does.

  16. Clay, this is an incredible article! I’m voting for Trump, but that’s not why I like the article. Your points are dead on! I love Outkick for the brutal honesty. I don’t agree with every article or point of view, but that’s what makes our country so great! I’m scared of a Kamala lead country, which will happen if Biden wins. Thanks for the great perspective and keep up the great work!

  19. Incredible article and I enjoyed your point about Obama. Even though I was not able to vote for him or old enough. I really enjoyed it. Even though I am a Republican 22 year old I love this. I will be voting for Trump because of I am pro religion, police/military, and freedom of speech.

  20. I am sharing this with friends, family and co-workers alike. This is one of the most honest and accurate takes out there. Outkick continues to deliver and lead the way and be a new voice for many who were left feeling without one. Thank you Clay, Jason and team. VIP for life!

  21. Clay great article i appreciate you sharing your views. The only thing I’d reconsider in the article is your comment on Joe Biden being a good man especially in light of all the information that has come out. As a registered independent I’m not anti liberal but he does not come across as a good person. He also seems to be compromised by China and other countries which isn’t going to help America if he wins. Just my 2 cents, great article none the less. I appreciate the transparency and honesty.

    • This was one of my takeaways too Patrick. Love the article overall, but the “Joe Biden is a good/decent person” bit sort of had me raising an eyebrow given all of the information that’s come out recently – as you pointed out. Keep up the great work Clay & Jason!

      • This is my only objection in the article as well. I was reading along and hearing Clay’s voice singing in my ears and then this jumped out at me like it was screeched in the wretched Cabala Harris voice. Joe Biden is totally compromised. He is also a despicable scumbag and a crook who has been selling influence to other countries for years and Clay will have to walk those words back some day. But otherwise, an excellent read. Well thought out and as always, very well written.

        Thanks Clay, love what you guys stand for and all you are getting done!

        • Not to mention his racist comments in the past [“segregation is good for the n*****, it’s good for the black, it’s good for everybody” and “I don’t want my kids growing up in a racial jungle!”]. Definitely not a good dude whatsoever just on those points alone.

        • Couldn’t agree more with Clay’s assessment EXCEPT his assessment of Joe Biden. He’s a crook, typical politician, and a sellout of America to China, a real scumbag. Easy choice for me – I’ll take the one who is showing the world how utterly crooked things have gotten in the world.

    • Obama definitely made race-baiting okay in his second term. Just go back and listen to his speeches whenever there was a white on black crime, (Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner). Obama fanned the flames, but should have been a calming influence. And now, Michelle has carried the torch for his husband.

  25. So well said Clay. Your five reasons are solid rock. There are several left leaning people I know who feel as you in regards to the Democrat Party. The Dems have gone so extreme they are leaving many behind. Thanks for your hard work, your patriotism, and your courage. I’m sure Trump will appreciate your support.

  26. Nice job Clay. Makes sense to me. I think 2020 highlights something that has been brewing for decades: We need another political option other than Democrat or Republican.

    In my opinion, both of these parties have been hijacked by special interests, big business, big tech, establishment ideology, they are compromising with enemies of this country, and the common American working person has been left out in the cold.

    I have typically voted Republican in my lifetime (I’m your age), but there are only a handful of Republicans I could see myself voting for president outside of Trump. I don’t trust the rest of them any more than I trust Democrats. Few have true guts and conviction that resonate with anyone. They’re uninspiring cadavers. That’s a problem. We desperately need political party reform, and if they’re not going to reform (They’re beyond reform imo) then we need another serious option. Just my two cents. For example, even if Trump wins, and I think he will, what comes next in 2024? I’m worried because there aren’t any “politicians” out there that I think I have what it takes.

  27. Great endorsement and reason Clay for making the case and voting for Trump. I always said true diversity is if you ever lived in a HOA being a board member in diverse neighborhood it’s the lowest form of democracy all the board members cant stand each other and all have different opinions of how the HOA should be operated. That’s diversity However at the end of the day The property values go up because people eventually work it out Without destroying the community and accepting there differences. That’s how America use to be. Now diversity it’s everyone of different races and genders thinking alike. I got a new nickname for you and withlock to put on a T shirt

    Salt and Pepper of Octkick when it comes to writing and style best in the sports business .

    Blessings
    Gregory L

  28. Trump has not expanded or started a new meaningless foreign war. He is the most peaceful president we’ve had in drawing down conflict since Reagan. But he’s been tough on those who deserve and has had meaningful peaceful resolutions passed in the Middle East. Unfortunately these achievements are little spoke of by the establishment.

    • I voted for Bush in 200 and became disillusioned when seeing it was based on a lie. I thought Obama had a better chance than McCain at not being a warmonger but he kept everything going in Iraq, Afghanistan and expanded the war footprint to Lybia, Syria and Yemen. He reduced the number of troops and increased the use of drone warfare. I also remember how anti war the left media was under bush and they quit caring under Obama. War is the health of the state and both parties support it. Trump isn’t as anti war as I would like, but Hillary Clinton was a disaster on foreign policy under Obama and would likely have engaged in more new conflicts if she had won. Trump is less than perfect. But he is better than the alternative on war 4 years ago.

      Obama continued the destabilization of the Middle East by removing heavy handed shitty dictators only to have a power vacuum and collapsed societies and economies, leaving people worse off. Republicans and democrats haven’t been different since Bush senior on foreign war. Trump is the biggest change in 30 years. Hillary was more of the same. If you think I’m wrong, Hillary helped architect Libya which was a failure.

      https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-na-pol-obama-at-war/

      • https://worldbeyondwar.org/u-s-drone-strikes-gone-432-since-trump-took-office/

        “During President Obama’s two terms in office, he approved 542 such targeted strikes in 2,920 days—one every 5.4 days. From his inauguration through today, President Trump had approved at least 36 drone strikes or raids in 45 days—one every 1.25 days.

        That’s an increase of 432 percent.” -Interestingly, the article isn’t dated, nor is the source specifically dated, but the first comment on the article is October 7th this year.

        Bullshit statistic, if one couldn’t already tell by the absurd number. And the math doesn’t even make any sense. Without a decent explanation, it sounds like they cherrypicked a random 45 day period. You can argue about him doing strikes at all, but to pin everything on this bullshit 432% increase is absurd.

      • These 532,000 bombs that Trump has supposedly dropped must have all been duds, cuz I haven’t seen any coverage by CNN screaming at the top of their lungs about it. Even CNN won’t touch this patently false statistic. COME ON, MAN!

  29. Clay,

    Thanks for sharing. While I’m a conservative I thought Obama MIGHT BE be good for the country. He turned out to be an empty suit. I did not vote for him but believed I could live with him. 45 is despised by the left because he is so effective at beating them with efficiency. If nothing else he’s for the prosperity, freedom and happiness for ALL AMERICANS. Perhaps in your younger years you were fooled by liberal bullshit. Glad to see you’ve come around as you gained wisdom.

  31. Original opinions on a matter where formed opinions have dominated the course. This, exactly this is why I VIP’d. That, and I have never been a VIP before. Now both my dog and I can enjoy that distinction.

    I am voting for Trump because he is not a politician. Obama says he is not presidential, and he is right, he is not. He is a leader and that scares the hell out of career politicians. Up until 2016, our political system had become systematically political, it didn’t matter what party lead the way. I got to the point where I could trust no one in office and resided to the fact that my vote was pointless, only supporting the politics of this age. It could only take an outsider to break up the madness that Washington has become.

    His work is not finished. The swamp still exists and the stench from the bottom is more potent than ever. Giving the left the keys will provide the opportunity for them to work double-time to restore the political deadpanning that once rule this nation. Their effort will result in socialism and to the point that this country may never recover. The swamp needs to fully be drained and allow for a more robust, organic America to evolve. Anything else will just be white noise.

  33. I’m glad to see people who vote on issues and what’s is best for the country, not by party and emotionalism. You nailed-it with your points. I’m voting for the “mean orange man” for the same reasons, and more.

  35. Clay, glad to see you, who I consider a true liberal in the classical sense, come over the right side, because the other side has left YOU. The reason’s you give for your conversion mimic others like Dave Rubin, Brandon Straka Leo Terrell (Leo 2.0), etc who also have see the light. Big welcome to all of you, we will not disappoint. TRUMP2020!

  39. Excellent article & I believe even more powerful because you’ve never voted Republican before! I firmly believe there are so many that say they hate Trump bc they heard someone they idolize say it & they can’t give you a reason why. I cannot believe how biased the media is…this scares the heck out of me!! China & WHO are responsible for this plague…i don’t think it was accidental & sure wasn’t from a wet market…if you need further evidence of their evil intentions look no further than the way the virus was kept from Shanghai & Beijing…only DJT will hold China accountable!!

  41. Have you actually been on OBAMANATION insurance or unaffordable care insurance as I see it because I was for 3 years! It’s a lie. I was 62 when I went on it, normal weight, never smoked, only Meds 1/2 a pill per day.
    $850/month. Did not cover my pre-existing condition, could not keep my doctors, Met only 10% of my $7800 annual deductible. Then guess what, year 2 the monthly premium went up to $1050 a month. When I called to find out the reason for this I was told, “ well somebody has to pay for the other people!”!! A young family of four that I go to church with had their premium jump $1000 a month in year 2. If Trump does away with ACA it’s only because he wants to replace it with something a whole heck of a lot better and I trust him as a businessman to do that rather than a 47 year career politician that has absolutely nothing to show for 47 years(and the crazy thing is none of his supporters can even name anything he’s done in 47 YEARS!!!)

    • Honestly, the less government jacks around with healthcare the better. If they took a wrecking ball to ACA and never lifted a finger to touch healthcare again it could only be better than what they’ve done to date. They can’t balance a budget, but we let them define our healthcare policies. Make it stop.

    • No one’s losing health insurance. Even if you did you still get healthcare. Hospitals can’t refuse you care because you don’t have insurance. We have millions of illegals illustrate this for you daily. The threat of losing insurance is a shallow political argument with no substance. If they did axe Obamacare there would be a transition period. It would take a year or two to shut it all down.

  42. clay very well done. I am Cuban American. My family had to escape from Cuba to come the USA where we believe the streets were paved in gold. We absolutely love this country and the choice is easy for me. Who is the anti-solicialist candidate. LATINOS FOR TRUMP

    To America- always remember Castro hide the fact the he was communist.. everyone thought he wasn’t and then after getting power he changed everything. The dems are doing the same here in USA… We can’t let them

  43. Clay,

    I’m in NFL media and my rising career was stalled because of some comments I made that were against riots. I absolutely love all of the points that you brought up in this article.

    As a member of the Tennessee Army National Guard, I thank you for your continued support.

  45. Clay,

    You put it clearly and succinctly. In 2016 I believed it was the election of my lifetime. If Hillary won there was no turning back . The culture warriors would win and the rest would be history. Now I see 2020 as even more important. The same people have become more beligerant and they want to take over our lives. Here are the reasons I am voting for Donald Trump. Take if for what it is worth.

    First and foremost this is a vote for capitalism vs. socialism. My view of the United States is that a person can achieve all that he or she wishes to accomplish if they put their minds to it and commit to working hard and putting in the time to be successful. This opportunity to succeed is why people will risk death to come to this country. Now we are faced with all of us being lumped in to one category or another and we should be happy with what we get no matter how hard we work. Read Europe. Some people are happy with an apartment and twelve weeks off per year. That is great. Not my deal. Young people should be cautious about what these people are promising you. It is not real. In a socialist society you give up your rights so the government can take care of you. You will never achieve your potential. They will steal your dignity. No ambition. No greatness. No achievement. I do not want an octagenarian from San Francisco or an out of work bartender from New York deciding what is best for me and mine.

    I understand the nature of the “new democracy” that the democrats want to sell America. They know better. They are the elites. We are not smart enough to know what we want. We have to pass a bill to find out what is in it. They need to show us the way. They want to be our caretakers. If we do not do what they want us to do then the world will end. Do not let these people think and act for you. Research everything they tell you. They have a radical agenda and most of us are sitting back and letting it happen. Hear me when I tell you they will lie to you every chance they get and they will feel they are justified in doing so. They know better!!!

    The democrats will raise taxes on the midle class. They cannot implement their plans without more money. Do the research. There is not enough capital to tax in the top 10% of tax payers to pay for their programs. Incidentally the top 10% of tax payers pay 70% of the income tax in this country. They will skorch the middle class. If you have a 401 K they will come after it. If you have savings, stocks or real estate they will tax it. They are instiable in that way. They always need more money. When they tax you they take away your choices and your freedom. They spend money like drunken sailors. It is time to say no! Demand accountability.

    Their approach to abortion is just wrong. Just do not get it. Enough said.

    They own the press and social media. They have and will take away your first amendment rights. Read Facebook and Twitter. Look at the way they have stifled any discussion of the Biden financial mess with foreign entities. Nobody will talk about it in the mainstream media. If you do talk about it they censor you. Don’t worry, his own party will get him after the election if he wins. Hello Kamala Harris and the California wing of the democrat party.

    Biden is compromised with China. Read the book The 100 Year Marathon by Michael Pillsbury. We are selling our souls to the Chinese (with the help of the WTO). This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but with a wimper. Incidentally 2049 marks the end of their 100 year plan. Look up the terms Shi and the warring states. They will keep you busy for a while.

    Don’t vote personality. I too dislike the way President Trump tweets. Look at policy and results. Before covid came to our country (thanks China) we had the best economy in the world. Best employment. Lowest crime (people had money because they were working). China actually was getting some pushback. We were actually starting to manufacture things in the USA for a change. We had prison reform. Trump actually asked Nato to step up and help pay for their own protection. For that he was castigated. Look up the Marshall Plan.

    Joe has been there 47years. That is not the way it was designed. Let him get a real job like the rest of us . He is the epitomy of what is wrong with Washington.

    Send a message, We want statesmen not politicians in Washington. There is only one choice on Tuesday.

    One last thing – if you fail to read history, you are doomed to repeat it – George Santayana

  46. I’m voting Trump as well, I value freedom of choice to do what I believe is right for my family and loved ones, I don’t need our government shutting down the country. I believe we as a people should really reflect on what we all really want in life. I vote for Trump largely because of Mike Pence, he’s from Indiana just like me and was our governor, he’s a good man and I think he’s worth keeping close to the top.

  49. “Trump ran a great campaign in 2016, he said he was the outsider, Hilary was the insider, hammered Hilary on corruption, hammered her on outsourcing (NAFTA and TPP) and said he’ll bring those jobs back, said he’ll end the wars, and said he won’t cut social security and Medicaid. Now Trump is saying that Biden is a far-left Marxist and socialist who will defund the police and Hunter Biden. He has gone from being a populist to an establishment Republican.”

    I have no idea where the connection is between your last sentence and everything before it.

    • are you even paying attention? He’s not running an establishment RINO campaign. Full throated support of Pro-life movement, zero pandering to illegal aliens, he’s flipped law enforcement to his side, he’s garnering more black and Hispanic support than any other Repub candidate in our lifetime (big tent), he’s dragging us out of needless “wars,” he’s made real progress in the middle east rather than paying it all useless lip service, he’s flipped middle America (working-class folks back to the right, he’s fully on board with school choice, etc. If he was running a RINO campaign, the RINOs would be supporting him. Wake up.

  50. Clay great read I would say he could have a lot more China and many other issues but I think you’d agreee he’s had had assassins nipping at his heels forever. Can only imagine what he could accomplish in a normal presidency. Thx BB

  52. very rational points. Many shared concerns, especially the media – in practically all forms – becoming an agent of the (deep) state. Not good at all. With the very credible Biden family business of influence peddling for high prices, setting them up to be blackmailed by our worst predator enemy countries, now being unveiled, it is very charitable of you to Call Joe Biden ” good and decent”. The FBI’s complicity in this is maybe even more concerning that that of the media.
    There was a time when this small town boy from middle TN voted for democrats, too. I doubt the time will return.

  53. I’ve been voting since W…everytime I voted it was basically plug my nose and vote who I thought was the lesser to two evils…although it seemed like everytime I did they turned out to probably be just as evil if not worse.

    The first time I voted for Trump it was because I certainly didn’t want Hillary to win. I also liked the America first idea he presented.

    I voted for Trump this time because he earned my vote by what he has accomplished. Probably the first president I can say that has.

  54. Rohan, I don’t agree with much of what you said, but I’m glad you’re on here saying it. We never want Outkick to become a place where someone with a different view from the majority here is intimidated not to post.

    Re: COVID, even Fauci said in February that we didn’t need to wear masks, and there was nothing to worry about. Everybody was wrong on how long it would stick around, and then on how deadly it would (or wouldn’t) be. The economic lockdowns have been more harmful than the virus. We will know when the stats for total 2020 deaths come out, and we compare them to recent years. I’m betting they’ll be close to the others…meaning most of those who died from COVID would have died anyway of preexisting health issues.

    • Rahan…in a federalist system, the president is not a monarch. The governors of each state decide what to do in their particular situations.
      Of course he delivered on those recommendations, but unlike China we did not send federal troops door-to-door to lock people up and throw away the key, or disappear them if they spoke about about the wuhan virus.
      There ARE NOT 235,000 covid deaths. All the data says approx. 6% of those deaths were from covid. They coded ANYONE with civid-like symptoms (which includes the annual influenza occurrences) as having covid for DOUBLE the reimbursement from medicare and medicaid. The vast majority died from the co-morbidities that were destroying their immune system before they ever caught any kind of “flu”.
      Congress — the House — cannot pass further legislation because Nancy Pelosi (a monarch if ever there was one) wants green new deal, illegal immigration, and help for blue states that let their cities be destroyed by anarchists. That is not what covid relief should be about and enough republicans have found their spines to say “no”.

  55. Here’s some ammo free of charge. Biden desperately wants to raise taxes when we’ve raised record tax revenue every year under Trump’s reduced tax structure. Every year’s tax revenue has set a new record.

    2017-2020 Tax Revenue: $13.82 trillion (2020 estimated)
    2013-2016 Tax Revenue: $12.31 trillion

    But trust the Democrats, okay? Americans just aren’t paying enough taxes!

  57. Good for you, Clay !!!
    I’m more libertarian than Republican…but you gotta play the cards that are dealt…Col. A or Col. B…no “pasadenas” on Gary Johnson, Ross Perot, Ron Paul (who would have been great lol).
    Proud to vote twice for Ronald Reagan, the best president in my lifetime before DJT.
    It’s not about popularity or phony bumper sticker word games…it’s about our children and our grandchildren. They need to be raised to be grownups and productive members of our country that will give back more than they take!!!

  58. I agree with Clay’s point that the world has substantially changed around him. In the 80’s, 90’s and early 00’s, the Republicans were flagrantly anti-1st amendment’s guarantee of the freedom of speech. This showed up in the music and entertainment industry. I believe this is why these industries have turned so hard against conservative views. In the 2010’s, the Democrats are now against freedom of speech. However, in addition to the abridgment of free speech, the Dem’s are anti-religion and against free press. Also, they are silent on the un-peaceable assembly occurring in America for the last 6 months. They are trampling the 1st Amendment. At least the right to petition is still safe…

  61. I wish I could write and express myself as well as you Clay. So thoughtful, direct, factual and to the point as always. God Bless you and Jason and proud to be a VIP at OUTKICK. It has been money so well spent, and love the diversity of topics and opinions from the team there. Go Buc’s!!!

  62. This is great. This is why I started listening to Clay a few years ago. He was in the middle. His thoughts are rational and he looks for the same things I look for. Facts. I have friends that are Democrats, but they are nothing like the Democrats in office today. I will never vote for those Dems in office.

    It feels like Biden and Harris will say anything they can to get elected. Everything they say sounds fabricated. Not to mention Biden’s adds look like they were ripped off of Trumps 2016 campaign. They literally say the exact same thing! Their entire campaign is a bait and switch. Biden won’t stay in office for more than a few months and I think people realize that.

    I think it will take quite a bit for me to ever consider a Democrat again. If I had to choose one today it would have been Tulsi Gabbard. For one, she’s a smoke show and two, I think she actually wants to help people and not herself. I will never consider one of these crazy Dem leaders they have today. If a Democrat asked me why I won’t vote for them I would tell them because I don’t want more taxes, I am tired of being called a racist because I am a white male, defend police officers, quit using minorities, don’t kill the energy industry (allow consumers to choose)… wow I could go on and on.

    Anyways.. Great article by Clay once again. Happy for the success of the show and the additions of Jason, Dr. Chao, and everyone else.

  66. An act of bravery in the Uber liberal world…… your voting history and acknowledgement of the Democratic Party leaving you reminds me of something Mark Twain wrote.:

    When i was a young man…… “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

  67. Hear, hear. Clay, your most brilliant move was to have Mr. Whitlock join you. My son and I discuss the possibility of Outkick ultimately displacing the bloated ESPN network. Ok, maybe that sounds like a bit much but people have discredited Elon Musk for a long time. You guys have the smarts and the skill to execute the achievement of that goal if that’s what ya’ll want to do. Just keep being who you are and turning the light on in the kitchen at 2AM in the morning. The cockroaches will always scatter when one turns the lights on. They prefer the dark.

  69. I had it in the back of my mind for a few weeks to join. Have always loved Jason (Go Pacers) and was glad to see him on Tucker a few times. Well, Instapundit linked to this article, and now I just paid my yearly subscription. I wish OK the best of luck, and I am proud to support them.

  72. Get Smarter Every Day.
    OUTKICK.COM
    Your audience is exploding for good reasons – many of which you expressed regarding First Amendment, Cancel Culture, Big Tech Manipulation Monopoly, China, NBA, and Covid.
    Obama is a fraud, however, and one of the big reasons Trump will be re-elected…

    TRUMP 2020!!!!

  74. My first Presidential election was in 1984 and I voted for Ronald Reagan. I mention that not to date myself, but because that was the last time I actually voted “for” a candidate instead of “against” an opposing candidate. I’ve essentially been voting defensively for the past 36 years, including 2016.

    In 2016 there were four kinds of voter; (1) people voting for Trump, (2) people voting against Trump, (3) people voting for Clinton and (4) people voting against Clinton. I was firmly in the fourth group in 2016.

    In 2020 I believe there are only two kinds of voter; (1) people voting for Trump and (2) people voting against Trump. I am firmly in the first group this year. For all his faults, real and perceived, you can tell that this guy really cares about the future of the country, not just for the next four years, but the next hundred and beyond. That is rare in a politician these days and worthy of my vote. So I am voting “for” Donald Trump.

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