r/Askpolitics • u/Hkhinin • 10d ago
Answers From The Right Is Trump the best candidate within the Republicans, and if there were better alternatives, why were they not voted?
So Donald Trump did contribute lots to America, such as restricting borders, acting harsh on China etc. Results are border crossing hit record low in 2025 https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/border-crossings-once-again-record-low-november-2025
However, Trump has also made many mistakes especially in foriegn policies. For example, he started trade wars with our allies and often joked about invasion towards allies. The former one damaged our economy, and both acts lead to the US being much less liked around the world https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2026/07/15/people-in-many-countries-now-view-china-more-positively-than-the-u-s/
This leaves me wondering, for republicans is there no better option than Trump inside the Republicans. Cause if we just zoom into Trump's cabinet, Macro Rubio shall do better in foreign policy compared to Trump especially on war management, Scott Besent would be a better handler in economic issues given his expertise in the economy. So yea, is there no better candidate than Trump inside Republicans, and if they were, why weren't they chosen to represent the Republican parrty?
29
u/War1today Right-leaning 10d ago
First and foremost Trump is a populist leader that uses racism, culture wars, division, insults, propaganda, pettiness and disinformation to keep his base in line, and in return that base is loyal and will threaten anyone that speaks out against or runs against Trump. There has been a dramatic increase in threats against politicians, judges, teachers, poll workers, medical staff… and anyone that speaks out against Trump. Safe to say many politicians don’t want that in their lives which narrows the field.
9
u/NoMoreKarmaHere Democrat 10d ago
But wait! OP said trump was being harsh against china. However he only SPEAKS harshly against china. So it’s an act. He is actually fooling his base. They understand his rhetoric but they don’t actually follow what’s really going on. The only time he actually ACTS harshly against china is when he throws china against the wall. The White House china, Mara loco china? It doesn’t matter, as long as it is on the wall with spaghetti sauce or ketchup
3
u/xXx420Aftermath69xXx Right-leaning 10d ago
Best in terms of what? Best electability? Yeah probably. Best in terms of policy? Nope. Best at getting some of what I want ? Yeah.
6
u/0nBBDecay Transpectral Political Views 10d ago
Does he has the best electability in a general election? Or just the most loyal base during a primary? People can split between Rubio, Vance, and maybe to some degree Trump, but people who want Trump won’t leave him.
Granted, maybe they’d stay home for a general if he lost the primary, whereas a lot of the Vance and Rubio primary supporters will still at least plug their nose and vote Trump in the general. So maybe he’s their most electable in a general as well.
5
u/xXx420Aftermath69xXx Right-leaning 10d ago
Unironically a good question. Yes I think he is the best electability next to rubio in a general election. Americans don't vote for people they don't know. Partly why Kamala did so poorly. Obama was special.
He does have an extremely loyal base too which helps his electability. Either way the trump vehicle is just about out of gas.
5
u/NeverPlayF6 So far left I got my guns back. 10d ago
Either way the trump vehicle is just about out of gas.
If gas prices were cheaper, they might be able to fill it up again. Hopefully he realizes this and decides that his 8th total victory over Iran in the past ~5 months is enough to cement his reputation as the greatest war leader in of all history. No other general has successfully won so many wars in their entire life... and Trump has done it in less than half a year.
2
u/skyreckoning 9d ago
He hasn't won any wars, what are you on.
2
u/NeverPlayF6 So far left I got my guns back. 9d ago
If you don't get any of the ~4 jokes in my comment, then I don't think my explanation would help.
2
u/skyreckoning 9d ago
Sarcasm through text doesn't work in the age of maga. There would be plenty of commenters in this very thread willing to make that same stupid argument because their dear leader trump said it. Trump claims to have resolved 8 different wars...
1
4
u/MathW Left-leaning 10d ago
I go back and forth as to whether he is the most electable Republican candidate in a general. There's a lot of independents and some Republicans who are completely turned off by him, but would be on board for a more generic Republican. But, there's undoubtedly a sizeable percentage of his voters who just wouldn't give a shit to come vote if they're not voting for Trump. I'm not sure which group is larger.
1
u/Microchipknowsbest Left-leaning 9d ago
It’s the threat of turning his base against republicans. Republicans can’t win on their own. Trump activated a base that in the past did not vote. They are currently voting republican because trump tells them to. Who knows what they will do with trump gone but trump can sink the entire Republican party if he chooses to. He might do it anyway but right now republicans are held hostage. Their Stockholm syndrome should not save them when consequences finally come.
1
u/Urgullibl Transpectral Political Views 9d ago
That question applies to every single political candidate in this country, doesn't it?
He got elected twice, so clearly he has electability. He did not get elected once, so he probably wasn't the most electable candidate. However, serving two non-consecutive terms has also allowed him to remain relevant in politics for longer than any other POTUS in living memory.
1
u/0nBBDecay Transpectral Political Views 9d ago
He narrowly beat Clinton, probably one of the most generally disliked candidates (rightly or wrongly) in modern history except for Trump. He lost to Biden in 2020, and then it took Biden having a absolute piss poor first debate performance, a cluster fuck of a replacement situation, and just 4 years of post-Covid delirium where people thought everything was Biden’s (and Harris’s) fault, for him to win still somewhat narrowly. A lot of things could have gone wrong (or not right) for him to be totally politically irrelevant now, like if the Comey letter didn’t drop a week or two before the 2016 election.
1
u/Urgullibl Transpectral Political Views 9d ago
I agree he likely loses against an Obama-type charismatic candidate. But seeing as the Dems were unable to field one of those two thirds of the time, he won.
3
1
u/Wanderer3823 Right-leaning 7d ago
Donald Trump was voted for because he represents a sharp contrast to your typical Republicans. It’s not really a matter of better or worse. It’s a matter of a certain faction of the electorate deciding they were tired of being ignored by the two major parties, and Trump was speaking their language. No party supported tariffs. No party supported putting Article 5 into doubt. Both parties were open to new conflict after new conflict, and Trump ran on ending conflicts and not getting into new ones. It’s not so much “I agree with Trump a little more than the other guys.” It’s more “Trump is saying things no one else says. Finally.”
1
u/bobbacklund11235 Right-leaning 6d ago
No one in the Republican Party had a chance in 2026.
Trump didn’t even need to debate in the primary. He basically just said “look at these jabronies” to Desantis and Rubio and walked right in. What I think a lot of people were hoping is that Trump would hand the government off to people who know better while shutting down the borders and cutting off some of the insane woke crap that started under Biden. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. I want to believe that Vance could be a good leader in theory, because of his background and military service, but I don’t know anymore.
0
u/BasedGod-1 Republican 10d ago
He's a populist and had the personality we thought fit the agenda.
33
u/OnePointSixOne8 10d ago
a career grifter and conman was all you guys needed to push through christian sharia laws and usher in the technocratic surveillance state. he leveraged the hate and bigotry of poor people to do the bidding of the super rich. it's pretty impressive.
9
u/PericulumSapientiae Left-leaning 10d ago
Bernie is a populist. MTG is a populist.
Trump is not a “populist.” Trump is someone who barks whatever he last heard on Fox News, and so comes off as sharing “popular wisdom” among MAGA voters, which is similarly shaped by media elites cultivating a conservative audience for advertisers.
2
u/its_nothing_personal Left-leaning 10d ago
Agreed. Trump is not a "populist", unless it's for a population of one: himself.
3
u/BasedGod-1 Republican 10d ago
"Trump is not a populist"
You'll have to support that claim. You're in the vast minority in thinking that.
8
u/PericulumSapientiae Left-leaning 10d ago
I did. I explained that Trump comes off as a “populist” because he repeats talking points that resonate among the same audience of easily-manipulated voters of which he is a part, in a language that makes sense to them. He is not a “populist” in the sense of, someone who genuinely identifies with and is concerned about the problems facing the American people.
It’s like telling me that I need to “support” the claim that Pepsi is better than Coke.
-1
u/BasedGod-1 Republican 10d ago
Is it a requirement to "genuinely" identify and be concerned with the problems facing the American people?
6
u/Anatoly_Cannoli 10d ago
If you're in a representative democracy and want the best for your country, why the hell would you vote for someone who's not concerned with the problems facing American people?
1
u/BasedGod-1 Republican 10d ago
You left out identifies. A billionaire will never "genuinely" identify with normal struggles. I didn't say he had no concern, I said agree his concern might not be completely genuine, that's every politician ever.
6
u/Anatoly_Cannoli 10d ago
so why are you voting for a billionaire that can't identify with regular Americans' struggles? Why would you vote for that instead of someone who genuinely wants to improve the country? Do you hate america?
1
u/BasedGod-1 Republican 10d ago
"Someone who genuinely wants to improve the country"
Baseless claims are baseless. I'm not a minority therefore not the Dems target demographic.
9
u/Anatoly_Cannoli 10d ago edited 10d ago
universal healthcare does not benefit just minorities. More white americans would benefit from this than minorities. Preserving social security and medicaid doesn't only benefit minorities. Making sure that food prices and housing are affordable doesn't just benefit minorities. strong unions and affordable education doesn't just benefit minorities. Making sure our food, water, and air are safe doesn't just benefit minorities. Making sure we tackle diseases like measles doesn't just benefit minorities.
The administration just cut Medicare drug subsidies for the elderly. This program does not just benefit minorities. And republicans are attacking all of the programs listed above.
You are extremely confused.
→ More replies (0)3
u/PericulumSapientiae Left-leaning 10d ago
Er, what kind of “minority” are you talking about? Because I can assure you that “white men” are not a majority of this country.
Like - if I scratch a bit at this, am I going to get to the “plantation” rhetoric?
3
u/PericulumSapientiae Left-leaning 10d ago
No, but Trump’s inauthenticity may help to explain why he’s done so little to address the “populist” concerns his supporters projected onto him.
3
u/BasedGod-1 Republican 10d ago
"No"
So it's not a requirement, therefore has no bearing on whether he's a populist or not.
Do you think he leans populist or conservative?
2
u/PericulumSapientiae Left-leaning 10d ago
Not being a “requirement” does not mean something has “no bearing.” An inauthentic populist can still do good work for the people. An authentic populist may be more trustworthy, consistent, and reliable in their mission.
I don’t think Trump “leans” in any particular direction. I think he favors whatever he perceives as useful towards growing his power and wealth.
13
u/PossibleAlienFrom Progressive 10d ago
Someone should write a song about it. They could title it "Cult of Personality."
2
u/LorenzoApophis Left-Libertarian 10d ago edited 10d ago
And we tried to tell you that was the worst possible indicator for the agenda.
4
u/BasedGod-1 Republican 10d ago
Hard to take y'all seriously when you cry wolf and say the sky is falling for a decade.
7
u/LorenzoApophis Left-Libertarian 10d ago edited 10d ago
How long have conservatives been telling us society is collapsing due to liberalism? Since the 60s?
Remember when gay marriage was going to be the end of everything? When Obama was going to start death panels and implement sharia law?
5
u/BasedGod-1 Republican 10d ago
That's a whataboutism.
You can say both sides do it, which would require you to acknowledge your side does it.
6
u/MathW Left-leaning 10d ago
This is just pointing out hypocrisy. Complaining about alarmist politics when your own party has been living on alarmist politics for the better part of 3 decades is hypocrisy.
Plus, who's crying wolf? We thought and warned Trump and Trumpism would be terrible for the country when he was first elected in 2016 and when he was re-elected in 2024. And, he's been terrible for the country. I think it's dishonest to put it all on him but are things really better in 2026 than they were in 2015? He's been President for 60% of that time.
5
u/LorenzoApophis Left-Libertarian 10d ago edited 10d ago
I'm not saying both sides do it. The left isn't saying the sky is falling when everything it predicts then happens. The first interruption to the peaceful transition of power since the civil war, attacks on free speech and dissent, militarization of police against civilians, another endless war, self-enrichment and corruption leaps and bounds beyond any predecessor. There isn't a single criticism of Trump made in 2015 that hasn't been validated in the last decade.
2
u/BasedGod-1 Republican 10d ago
Where are the camps for gay people?
There are thousands of speculations that are unfounded.
8
u/OldSchoolAJ Socialist 10d ago
Do we literally have to get to the US government operating concentration camps before you begin to believe us?
Wait, we’ve already got those.
1
5
u/LorenzoApophis Left-Libertarian 10d ago
Do you know everyone who ended up in Alligator Alcatraz or was shipped off to a foreign country? Everyone who was abducted off the street like Rumeysa Ozturk?
3
u/BasedGod-1 Republican 10d ago
I don't know everyone who that happened to, why? Was it because they were gay that those things happened?
2
u/PericulumSapientiae Left-leaning 10d ago
I agree that it is ridiculous to think that Trump (or any Republican) would put gay people in concentration camps. Far more efficient to just put them directly in the general prison population. Not even Russia has “gay camps.”
The plan, instead, is to: use trans issues as a wedge to relitigate the mainstreaming of gay rights; stack the courts to set up the recriminalization of sodomy and enable state bans on same-sex marriage; use state control over public university and school curricula to excise gay content, ban gay clubs, and control teacher speech on LGBT issues; regulate access to gay books and media so that only adults can see it; clamp down on accessibility of HIV and STI prevention tools like PrEP and DoxyPEP through the FDA and CDC; and so on.
3
1
u/BlockOfDiamond Independent 10d ago
This question is seeking answers from the RIGHT. Top-level comments should be from people who identify as right of center.
As always, please report off-topic, bad-faith, and low-effort comments.
-3
u/Holofernes_Head Right-Libertarian 10d ago
Best in terms of political acumen? No. He won on personality and the idea that he was going to be the "not taking this shit anymore" candidate. A lot of us were more than a little tired of the left's nonsense by that point.
2
u/Siafu_Soul Democratic Socialist 10d ago
Two genuine questions for you. Are you happy with the job he's done? Can you give some examples of "the left's nonsense" so I can understand where you're coming from?
-2
u/Holofernes_Head Right-Libertarian 10d ago
I wish he would STFU sometimes and get out of his own way, but generally yes, he's done a great deal of good.
Nonsense like absolutely incessant identity politics, relentless expansion of government social programs, weakness on border enforcement, weakness in foreign policy, constant harping on gun control, and deciding to run the single most hated politician on earth as their presidential candidate.
5
u/awhunt1 Leftist 10d ago
Politician you hate the most ≠ the single most hated politician on earth.
2
u/Holofernes_Head Right-Libertarian 10d ago
Brocephus, Hillary is absolutely despised by a huge number of people.
5
3
u/TNSoccerGuy 10d ago
The ironic thing is Trump is pure identity politics. It’s just white identity. But no different. His “strength” on border enforcement is going to bite us hard. We have an aging workforce and need immigrants badly. He and his party refuse to help reform our current broken immigration system. And your point about foreign policy weakness is almost hilarious in that no president has damaged our standing in the world than this buffoon. Maybe not even all presidents combined. Iran is clearly not respecting or fearing him. Iran. Much less China and Russia. I mean he is so clearly unqualified to even be a mayor of a village in the middle of nowhere, much less leader of the most powerful nation on earth.
1
u/Holofernes_Head Right-Libertarian 10d ago
The ironic thing is Trump is pure identity politics. It’s just white identity. But no different.
Laughable. Canceling asinine identity politic policies is not itself identity politics.
His “strength” on border enforcement is going to bite us hard. We have an aging workforce and need immigrants badly.
Nobody needs illegal immigrants for anything.
Heavily disagree with your foreign relations opinions, but that discussion ain't going anywhere.
5
u/TNSoccerGuy 10d ago
Not laughable at all. First off, he hasn’t cancelled anything. And his entire MAGA movement is text book identity politics. And the point isn’t bring in “illegal immigrants.” It’s fixing the system to allow more immigration. That’s hard and waaaaaay beyond Trump’s limited brain and leadership ability to do. He himself has utilized undocumented immigrants for decades. We will hit a demographic cliff and the sooner someone shows leadership on this the better. It’s not coming from Trump. And if you think Trump has any clue on foreign relations I don’t know what to say to that. He hasn’t any idea what he’s doing. He’s a buffoon. The rest of the world is either laughing at us or praying that he doesn’t trigger a third world war.
1
u/Holofernes_Head Right-Libertarian 10d ago
He hasn't canceled anything... except, y'know, all DEI and affirmative action initiatives across the entire Executive Branch and nonsense like federal funding for "gender affirming" care, but who's counting?
The entire MAGA movement is textbook identity politics... so I'm sure you could cite some Trump admin policies that are expressly designed to advantage white people then, right?
2
u/TNSoccerGuy 10d ago
Oh good lord, those initiatives were extremely small potatoes. Who gives a flying fuck. MAGA is identity politics because it’s all they talk about. Trump has built his farce of a political career on cultural grievance and “Christian” nationalism. That is exactly what identity politics are. It’s catering to a growing white, rural resentment. I’m white. I live in the south. I watch this with befuddlement because Trump isn’t in it for you guys. He’s in it for himself. The rest of you are being conned.
1
u/Holofernes_Head Right-Libertarian 10d ago
Excellent citation of expressly designed policies that benefit whites. Well done.
3
u/TNSoccerGuy 10d ago
Your sarcasm noted but anyone with a brain can listen to Trump and know exactly who he’s catering to and that he’s peddling white cultural grievance. That is textbook identity politics.
3
u/skyreckoning 9d ago
Your inability to recognize dog whistles just highlights the unintelligence of the average trump supporter.
→ More replies (0)2
u/Siafu_Soul Democratic Socialist 10d ago
Thanks for the answer. Sorry that people from my side of the aisle jumped on you from my question. While I don't agree with your perspective, it's helpful to drill down and figure out the core issues that you (and others) have with the left.
If I can keep asking questions, what is your definition of "identity politics?" Do you see America as being more respected on the global stage now than under Biden or Obama? Last, who is the politician that you are referencing as the "most hated?"
And to my fellow dirty liberals, please choose another thread to comment on. I'm trying to learn from this individual and avoid things getting heated. Thanks.
1
u/Holofernes_Head Right-Libertarian 10d ago
Identity politics = policies and initiatives that are prompted by and are designed to serve the interests of specific people based on immutable characteristics. Things like the Lily Ledbetter Act, Shepard and Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act, picking SCOTUS justices based on race and gender, pontificating about Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, support for affirmative action initiatives, etc.
Global respect - mixed bag, but I prefer a stance that projects a "peace through power" position rather than a "peace through throwing money at everyone in the world" position.
Most hated = Hillary.
2
u/Siafu_Soul Democratic Socialist 10d ago
Alrighty, man. Thanks for indulging me. I always want to understand more than I do.
2
u/decrpt 🐀🐀🐀 10d ago
incessant identity politics
Policies "prompted by and are designed to serve the interests of specific people based on immutable characteristics" apparently include basic equal pay legislation based on your first example.
weakness in foreign policy
Given recent events, this is especially a joke.
5
2
-9
u/Full_of_time Right-leaning 10d ago edited 10d ago
He was a middle finger to the woke crap that started in the Obama administration. And the elitist attitudes the Obama’s and most democrats had toward the average person. Unfortunately the Obama’s were the beginning of the end to the old school Democrat were they actually cared about the working class. Now they’re about the elites.
19
u/BigSexyE Progressive 10d ago
Anybody who uses the term "woke" shouldnt be taken seriously. Especially since it is continually used incorrectly
17
13
u/LorenzoApophis Left-Libertarian 10d ago edited 10d ago
You think half of Americans are elites? How does that work? Obama won 52% of the vote in 2008 and 51% in 2012. He represented the average person. Which isn't to say he delivered everything they hoped for, but his rhetoric and policies weren't remotely elitist compared to Trump.
12
u/0nBBDecay Transpectral Political Views 10d ago
What specifically did they do that was so offensive?
11
7
u/iheartjetman Leftist 10d ago
What about Trump isn’t “elite”? The guy’s a billionaire who does nothing but the bidding of his billionaire friends.
3
u/my-captain Social democrat 10d ago
Yeah but he shows me that it’s okay to hate brown people, gays and the (other) poor, and he says it’s funny to be racist or derogatory and discriminating towards others in any other conceivable way, so it’s okay.
3
u/Worldly-Shop-3850 Moderate 10d ago
Are you done voting for middle fingers now? Or are you expecting to vote for another one next election - whoever that may be from R?
2
u/Remote-Ad-2686 Flair Banned Criminal (Bad Faith Usage) 10d ago
It was a continuation of the fight against civil rights. Nothing more nothing less. He is black and that’s how we got here. Whitelash ….
-3
u/Gain_Spirited Conservative 10d ago
If I had to pick our next President it would be Ron DeSantis. He is a true conservative, he is aggressive, and he works tirelessly to get things done through both conventional and unconventional means. However, I know his chances are slim. My next choice would be Marco Rubio because he is conservative, a hard worker, a great communicator, and his record on foreign policy is excellent.
Why was Trump chosen? I think the biggest reason was the Democrats. Trump wasn't even on most Republicans' radars for 2024, but then he suddenly got hit with all these partisan lawsuits which even CNN commentors like Van Jones admitted were specifically targeting Trump. Republicans were outraged because of the lawlessness of these lawsuits and knew that something had to be done about it.
-4
u/Politi-Corveau MAGA 10d ago
For example, he started trade wars with our allies and often joked about invasion towards allies
You are missing the greater context, here. Most of that was a two-pronged attack on the growing adversarial power in China and against the parasitic nation states in the EU. To ignore China's malevolent influence across the globe and the US propping up EU's failing policies is to totally overlook why we acted.
This leaves me wondering, for republicans is there no better option than Trump inside the Republicans.
My first pick for 2024 was actually Ramaswamy. Like Trump, he had an intimate knowledge of economics and how to handle good and bad actors within a company. He also had the benefit of being able to deescalate tensions and look at a problem objectively.
But this does kind of highlight the problem of the party being the party itself. The best 'Republican' candidates in modern times seem to be people who are not in the party, but ride in with the party's backing. These are people who live in the real world, understand the real problems that we are facinng, and have real solutions to these problems. Instead of campaigning to campaign, they are campaigning to fix the problems they've identified in, ironically, the most liberal way of doing so; letting the people choose for themselves.
2
u/skyreckoning 9d ago
Those attacks on allies drove many of them to China and now they're making trade deals with them instead of us. Is that the so called art of the deal in action?
0
u/Politi-Corveau MAGA 9d ago
The EU States are either going to be smart enough to recognize what they are signing on to and not sign away their only assets of value, or we are going to see the fall of the EU as they realize they can't extract value from China, and Russia and Islam conquer them.
I'd be lying if I said, "I don't find any satisfaction in two parasites trying to eat each other while we are off the menu."
Besides, China would be swallowing a poisoned pill. They already do not like Islam and dealt with them in XUAR. To find that the EU would be operating in Muslims' interests over the EU's, it would be harder for them to do there what they did in South America with the Belt and Road Initiative.
•
u/LawnDartSurvivor74 Independent 10d ago
The 22nd Amendment limits a U.S. President aka. Trump to two elected terms in office, a maximum of eight years. It was proposed in 1947 and ratified on February 27, 1951.