Supporters of Donald Trump lay the claim that their billionaire businessman is challenging the political correctness (PC) of society. They argue he is speaking what is on his mind, he is speaking what the average American is thinking, and is running an unconventional campaign for U.S. president.
But is this true?
Not if history is a teacher.
In fact, on trade and immigration he has said nothing different than what protectionists have been saying for most of the history of the United States. From the founding generation to today, many protectionists have argued for strict border control, harsh immigration laws, and U.S.-favored international trade agreements.
On trade and immigration, Trump's hot button issues, he is just to the left of George W. Bush and to the right of Mitt Romney. Independent firebrand Pat Buchanan has said much of what Trump has said for decades (both ran for president under the Reform Party in 2000, no less).
On foreign policy, Trump is no different than the average neocon who has infected the United States for over a century. And like neocons in the 1960s and '70s, Trump switched from the Democratic Party to the GOP.
Trump, much like W. Bush and Barack Obama, wants more war, wants a bloated military, and is personal friends with the politicians who supported public funding of terrorists, such as ISIS. And of course, like any red-handed politician, denies support for terrorists.
On civil liberties, he vocally supports torture, the Guantanamo Bay prison (Gitmo), the PATRIOT Act, FISA secret military courts, NSA spying, prosecuting government whistleblowers, etc.
Every Republican president and presidential nominee since the 1950s (except Senator Barry Goldwater in 1964) has vocally supported similar violations of civil liberties; while every Democratic counterpart (save for Senator George McGovern in 1972) has secretly supported the same (given their opposition as candidates, but support either after election or after the end of their careers).
The Anti-Media goes into more detail: http://theantimedia.org/6-things-trump-said-us-alr...
On economic policy, he supports the same cultish Keynesian philosophy as every president since Herbert Hoover, the same pro-Wall Street policies that fly in the face of his own populist rhetoric, and the same pro-Fed support despite his saying he would support an audit (political double-speak warning: the Fed already goes through routine audits).
Not to mention his speeches come across as if they were written by a mix of "the godfather of neoconservatism" Irving Kristol, segregationist governor George Wallace, and the elitist neocon Hillary Clinton herself. He advocates policies - big government, big spending, big taxing, and more war - that mirrors Clinton, but with rhetoric and platitudes used by Kristol and Wallace.
Trump may not be anti-Semitic and racist like Kristol, Wallace, and other neocons and theocons tend to be, but his policies are. And those policies have been pushed for in many ways over generations.
The pseudo-billionaire - his business interests have often been propped up by subsidies, bailouts, and general government protections - has said nothing different than what many politicians and activists have been saying for years to even generations.
Given his GOP nomination is rife with opposition, from within the party no less, so much so a #neverTrump campaign (by GOP operative and CIA veteran Evan McMullin) and growth in the next party down, the Libertarian Party (and its two-governors' ticket, the William F. Buckley-endorsed governor Gary Johnson and the Ronald Reagan-appointee governor Bill Weld) have become a reality.
That and the fact the former senator and state secretary Clinton, another grossly unpopular candidate, barely leading in the polls show Trump is not speaking what is on the average American's mind.
One could argue his nomination, being an outsider, is unconventional. But only barely. Given Donald Trump has spent decades as a practical lobbyist for liberal causes (a registered one for a decade), big donor for Democrats, and a supporter of many campaigns in New York and D.C., famously the presidential ambitions of Bill Clinton and the senate career of Hillary herself.
It should also be noted he was a big donor for the Clinton Foundation, even after 2011 (when he switched to the GOP), endorsed self-proclaimed progressive governor Mitt Romney, and counseled with many politicians over the years.
Calling Trump an outsider is to admit ignorance about the candidate.
Fun fact: Trump not only agrees with Clinton on gun control, but believes in gun control policy that makes even Democrats think he is too anti-gun. See: stop and frisk.
Even if one wanted to argue his campaign is unconventional, look at his campaign team. He hires political insiders to not only run his campaign but to advise him. His campaign was managed by a GOP insider Corey Lewandowski and is run by another, bigger insider in Kellyanne Conway.
His campaign chairman is neocon and alt-right figure Steve Bannon. His staff is riddled with Bob Dole and W. Bush operatives. His foreign policy advisors are pro-war neocons, while his economic team is pretty liberal on big-government/big-business. And not to mention the big-government likes of theocon Newt Gingrich and liberal Chris Christie.
To see more of his staff, Ballotpedia has a list: https://ballotpedia.org/Donald_Trump_presidential_...
If Donald Trump was truly unconventional, then he would not be where he is at today. His policies are pro-establishment, he surrounds himself with pro-establishment people, and his past, even his recent past, is storied in pro-establishment beliefs. He is as conventional and establishment as Hillary Clinton is.
The United States could elect either of these New York liberals. Or Gov. Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party or Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party (who have ballot access enough to mathematically win the election). Regardless who wins, the 2016 election has been more conventional than the media claims.
