A Fox News host is worried about Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s pledge to expand President Barack Obama’s legacy of big government and hostility to competitive free markets.
Eric Bolling, co-host of “The Five” – who grew up in a blue-collar family in Chicago before landing a job on Wall Street followed by his career as a television personality – said he would never have been able to achieve the level of success he has in today’s political climate.
“I would be a couch-sitting pajama boy with all the things I needed handed to me – insurance, Obamacare, Obama phones, help with my rent, help with my electricity bills,” he told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview about his latest book, “Wake Up America.” “That’s what we’re promoting, we’re promoting a group of young people who if they don’t find a job, they don’t get back up and keep looking for a job, and once they have a job, we don’t tell them to strive to become a CEO in a company.”
Bolling described The New York Times best-seller as a conservative handbook. He decided to dedicate it to Obama’s 2009 speech wherein Obama says America isn’t any better than other nations.
Following an introduction painting a picture of what he thinks a Clinton presidency would look like, he lays out the nine virtues he believes make the country great: grit, profit, manliness, thrift, individuality, dominion, merit, pride and providence. Bolling believes GOP nominee Donald Trump embodies these qualities.
According to Bolling, if 2012 nominee former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had embraced his success, he would have had a better shot at winning the presidency.
“I’m a unabashed capitalist, and I think Mitt Romney lost the election in a big part because he was embarrassed of his wealth,” he said. “We’ve seen it (America’s success) in so many ways, especially in finance, and I think we should embrace that profit rather than hide from it, it’s almost a dirty word now to be successful. That’s not going to make us successful on the global stage going forward.”
While the author said he has gotten some eye rolls on his chapter titled, “Manliness,” the focus is lost on gender and the competitive nature.
“I think the country was forged under the rugged spirit of the founders, and we continue to remember it well, but the left will have a lot of push back on that rugged spirit,” he told TheDCNF. “That rugged spirit has almost been an embarrassment.”
Bolling said he hopes the book, which was praised by Trump, will help people recognize the importance of conservative principles ahead of November’s election.
“I have a son that entered college as a freshman for the first time this year, and I don’t want the country to continue down that path for him,” Bolling said. “He is going to inherit what we started. I don’t want it to be a Europe without the vacations.”
Follow Juliegrace Brufke on Twitter
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.