RUSH: Back to President Trump. He went to White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, yesterday. And it was ostensibly a roundtable and meeting on tax reform. They had a script for Trump to read, and very early during the reading of the script he just threw it away. He said these are my remarks. This is so boring, I can’t believe — and he threw it away, and he just started riffing on whatever was on his mind.
Here first is a Drive-By Media montage. We have here a roundtable discussion. It’s not the media. It’s Governor Jim Justice — you know, I’m really not sure what this is. Play audio sound bite number 11 ’cause it sets up what’s coming up next.
JIM JUSTICE: What he’s done that has impacted our state thus far has changed our state in so many ways, it’s unbelievable.
EVAN JENKINS: You made a promise to end the war on coal and you’ve kept that promise.
PATRICK MORRISEY: Thank goodness we now have an administration to work closely with who’s committed to regulatory reform, tax relief. We had the bull’s-eye on us until you got here. So thank you for that.
NATHANIEL BONNELL: Because of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, we were able to give every one of our 66 employees an additional thousand dollars over and above their normal, annual raises.
TERRY DOTSON: You’ve made a huge difference. Your tax cuts have made a difference. And I can tell you our people know that your tax cuts have made a difference. I can tell you that it’s not crumbs to them.
SEAN FARRELL: We made sure that everyone there knew that the reason they got raises was because of the new tax laws.
HUGH HITCHCOCK: This was much more than just crumbs. It makes a tremendous difference. And Mr. President — (applause starts) — I urge you to stay the course.
RUSH: Okay. That was Hugh Hitchcock. He’s Davis Trust president and CEO. These are West Virginians thanking Trump for the tax cut bill. And the first one that you heard was Jim Justice, who is the governor of West Virginia. So you had some political people, you had some businesspeople, CEOs. And it was pretty powerful. “Thank you, Mr. President. Keep staying the course.”
That’s what so many people hope and pray happens. They hope Trump keeps on. They hope Trump is not distracted. They hope Trump doesn’t get fed up. They hope that Trump keeps both fists up and keeps pounding away. And this next bite indicates that that may well happen.
THE PRESIDENT: You know, this was gonna be my remarks. It would have taken about two minutes, but what the hell — (throws paper in the air, laughter and applause) That would have been a little boring, a little boring. No, I’m reading off the first paragraph, I said, “This is boring, come on, we have — (laughter) — we have to say — tell it like it is. We have to get Republicans in office.”
RUSH: So obviously some staffer had prepared a couple, three minutes of remarks designed to be milquetoast and inoffensive. And the president looked at it, said, “I don’t want to say this. This is dull, this is boring.” So he literally threw the stuff in the air, and he went into a riff on the military and immigration and tariffs, just fired both barrels, once again with no notes.
He cannot stand to be cookie cutter. He just can’t stand it. It was Washington-speak. It was a typical presidential statement designed not to make news, do not cause any kerfuffles, any ruffles, and he can’t do that. Then later in the meeting, a West Virginia woman broke down in tears. And she wasn’t the only one. Broke down in tears, tears of gratitude for Trump for what he is doing.
WOMAN: I said I wasn’t going to cry. (laughter starts) Gosh. I just want to say thank you to you for the tax cuts. This is a big deal for our family. We really support you. And this is a big deal. These tax cuts are a big deal. Thank you for listening to us. Thank you for fighting for us. Thank you for caring enough to allow us the opportunity to come here and tell you “thank you” to your face. My boys — my little 10-year-old wants to be president one day.
THE PRESIDENT: It will happen.
RUSH: Now, depending on where you went, you could find left-wing media types making fun of this woman. You could find left-wing media types reacting as, “You know, this woman, she doesn’t even have the slightest idea. She may have gotten a tax cut, but wait ’til she sees what’s gonna happen to her insurance policies because of what Trump’s done to Obamacare.”
I kept thinking as I’m watching these people react snarky, “I thought you people cared about people. I thought you people on the left, the Democrat Party and the media, I thought you owned all the compassion. Why is it that we so often see you making fun of people? You make fun of the way people talk. You make fun of where people live. You make fun of people liking Trump. I thought you were the people that were so tolerant and understanding and demanding that everybody have the compassion that you do.”
And see, it’s a giant myth. They don’t have compassion, and they don’t care about people. They care about themselves. But they don’t care about people. That’s one of the biggest myths that they have successfully created, that they own all the compassion, and the Republicans are mean-spirited and extremist. And for the most part, it’s the exact opposite.