Politics

Matt Lewis & The News Podcast: Jeffrey Lord

Photo credit should read J. DAVID AKE/AFP/Getty Images)

Campbell North Contributor
Font Size:

“The Democratic party, the American Left, are on record supporting slavery, segregation, lynching—they were the Klu Klux Klan—all of this racial consciousness stuff is still there at their core today. They judge everybody and everything by race.”

In the midst of the Republican National Convention, Matt sat down with Jeffrey Lord to discuss Trump’s political appeal, the fresh energy in the Republican Party and the role of race in the two-party system.

Lord, contributing editor for The American Spectator and Trump supporter, started his career as a Robert Kennedy supporter but switched parties after becoming captivated by Ronald Reagan. He draws from experience working as a former aide for Jack Kemp and Ronald Reagan in forming his understanding of how current political dynamics play out across the country.

Lord noted that Trump offers the same appeal to voters that Ronald Reagan did; he is not part of the conventional American political class.

“One of the things that Donald Trump has going for him—which was clear to me from the way he was attacked during the primaries—is he, like Ronald Reagan, like Schwarzenegger…is a cultural figure,” said Lord.

“When you have that going for you, you are far separated from conventional politicians. And all the other 16 Republican candidates, to a person—wherever they fell on the spectrum—were conventional folks”

“And the American people for better or worse know all about Donald Trump…they like the guy”

(Stream the full podcast with Jeffrey Lord here, and download the latest from Matt Lewis and the News on iTunes.)

The familiarity between the American public and Trump as a cultural figure, rather than a conventional politician, may actually benefit him over Clinton, Lord believes. He also noted that Trump brings fresh blood to the party—people respond to him because he is not a member of the ‘political class’ that the public has already become so frustrated with.

“Some of this turned into a permanent political class and so you’ve got a lot of folks out there who look at this now and say ‘enough’…and see Hillary Clinton as the latest embodiment of it. They look at 16 people on that Republican stage and roll their eyes and say ‘not more of this,’” said Lord.

“When you’re in for 8 years you tend to run out of gas…and you’re burnt out…Whatever else Donald Trump has done, he he has brought a huge burst of energy.”

The two further discussed how this fresh energy has uncovered flaws in the older Republican elite establishment and how this energy may open up new avenues for more varied opinions and discussion to take place.

Lord also argued against assumptions that Trump is a racist and anti-semite, referencing Jason Greenback, chief counsel at the Trump Organization. Greenback practices Judaism and said that he has always been able to observe his faith. Even in the middle of big deals, Trump would tell him ‘stop, go home’ and encouraged him to fulfill his religious obligations.

“What I think has happened, which has really bothered me,” said Lord “the Democratic party, the American Left, are on record supporting slavery, segregation, lynching—they were the Klu Klux Klan—all of this racial consciousness stuff is still there at their core today. They judge everybody and everything by race.”

Given that tensions, especially racial tensions, are expected to rise at the convention, Lord concluded, ““Protests are fine…It’s American as apple pie. What is not American…is people who come here with the notion of shutting this down or causing trouble particularly when we’re seeing something like we’re seeing in Baton Rouge today”

(Stream the full podcast with Jeffrey Lord here, and download the latest from Matt Lewis and the News on iTunes.)