I’ve written a book that’s probably unlike any political book you’ve ever read. It’s got a lot of politics in it, yes, and it includes stories from my two years as communications director on Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign. But it also describes my decades-long battle with alcoholism, an addiction I finally escaped in May of 2015, when my life was at its lowest point.
I decided to write this book, called “Swing Hard in Case You Hit It: My Escape from Addiction and Shot at Redemption on the Trump Campaign,” for one big reason, and another smaller one.
When I was in alcohol treatment programs (and yes, I went to rehab multiple times), I found myself in the bookstore buying up all the volumes that were autobiographical — the ones where people told their own stories about making it through the madness of addiction. There were clinical books, which were more like medical textbooks, but the ones that held personal accounts helped me because I could always find something in their stories that related to my own experiences.
That’s the big reason for writing this: I want to help people the way I have been helped by other authors. It sounds trite, but it’s true that if one alcoholic delays taking a drink for even a few minutes while holding this book, then it was worth the effort to write it. I know that working on it helped remind me that one drink would lead to another downward spiral from which I might not recover.
The other reason, less important but still there, was to eliminate the power my own background once had over me. When I started working at the Trump campaign in February 2019, I received a few press calls asking me to respond to the discovery of my police record, which includes two convictions for driving under the influence, among a number of other, more minor, alcohol-related offenses.
Democratic Party opposition researchers had quickly compiled a file on me and were shopping it around to journalists, hoping to damage President Trump by attacking his communications director. Thankfully, I had been honest with the president and his team about my past, and the reporters ultimately decided it wasn’t worth writing about. Though I am grateful that those stories didn’t appear, I’m now telling them myself and relieving them of the ability to ever haunt me again.
Some people have asked why I’ve been so vocal about Hunter Biden, given his personal problems, and wonder if I should refrain from criticizing a fellow addict. In truth, I feel for Hunter Biden and have tried not to attack him for his addictions, and I also sympathize with his father, because I know that having an addict around is hard on everybody. But I have absolutely been critical of the alleged influence peddling scheme he allegedly ran featuring his father, Joe Biden, as the product they were selling. All that should be fair game.
That said, I know that politics is a rough sport, and I’ve been a longtime participant. You’ll read a lot about that in the book as well. There are skirmishes with CNN and MSNBC anchors and tales from the campaign trail that have not been reported before. There are stories from Trump rallies, in-the-room scenes from the debates and memories of how COVID-19 engulfed the race. You’ll learn a little bit about what life was like inside the most-watched political campaign in world history, and what it was like during and after January 6, 2021.
And unlike a lot of books in the Trump era, it is not a tell-all that tries to make headlines by bashing the former president. Working on the Trump re-election campaign was the highest honor of my professional life, and I support him in the 2024 election.
This is a book that’s ultimately about redemption, and the title, “Swing Hard in Case You Hit It,” has meaning to me because it’s what my father used to say when I left the house for baseball practice. It’s a good philosophy for all of life, if you think about it, because if you’re engaged in some activity, you might as well give it your all, just in case you succeed. In theory, your success will be greater if you make a greater effort.
It doesn’t cost anything to try hard, and usually in life there isn’t a three-strike rule. Most times, you can have as many swings as you want, and sometimes there can be a comeback story. For me, that included flying on Air Force One just four years removed from waking up in jail – all because I swung hard in case I hit it.
Tim Murtaugh is a political consultant, the co-host of the Line Drive Podcast, and the author of “Swing Hard in Case You Hit It: My Escape from Addiction and Shot at Redemption on the Trump Campaign.”
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.