By Nancy Thorner (Photos by Mark Weyermuller)
BOLINGBROOK - Tuesday night, three national conservative personalities - WIND AM 560's Joe Walsh, Salem Radio's Hugh Hewitt and Townhall.com's Guy Benson announced their grades of the Trump presidency thus far.
None of the three were hesitant to give their opinions as to what they thought about Trump's presidency which has been maligned daily by the mainstream media, the Shadow government, Democrat leaders past and present, organizations funded by billionaire Democrat donor, George Soros and Never Trumpers. All those have been a detriment to Trump's success, besides members of his own Republican Party that don't realize that by participating in the on-going concerted effort to destroy Trump and his presidency, they are contributing to what would be the destruction of this nation and the principles upon which this nation was founded.
Joe Walsh's initial remark to the assembled was greeted enthusiastically: "She isn't president anymore!" Not so with Joe's second remark, which at least caused me to question what surprises might be in store for me: "We all don't think the same on everything."
I already knew that I was in disagreement with Joe Walsh about Trump's Afghanistan remarks of the night before (August 22), having heard Walsh state his firm opposition to Trump's decision to remain in Afghanistan instead of pulling out, while listening to The Joe Walsh Show while driving to the Bolingbrook event.
I was pleased to hear later on in the program that Hugh Hewitt thought Trump's Afghanistan address was one of the four best speeches he had given so far, rating with the ones in Saudi Arabia, his Joint Address to Congress, and his speech in Warsaw, Poland. Hewitt went on to call Trump's Afghanistan speech as Trump's "Better Angel" moment, specifically because Trump honored all of the military and admitted the difficulty that comes with the job of being president (changing his mind because of threats perceived). Guy Benson elaborated on the aspect of humility and on Trump's ability to display such humility.
Discussion of the previous weekend's events in Charlottesville was another divisive topic that engendered controversy regarding the nature of Trump's Tuesday news conference of August 15 in front of Trump Towers, as Hugh Hewitt and Guy Benson raked Trump over the coals, seeming to take their cues from the Left and further condemning Trump's rhetoric as "not presidential," which, I'm sure will continue to be a thorn in the side of both Hewitt and Benson.
Not so with Joe who rated the combative encounter of Trump and the media as very good. As Joe said, 67% of Republicans liked what Trump said and how he said it, believing that Trump had initially condemned all hate, but that Democrats only see hate on one side -- the Republican side.
With the failure of the Republican U.S. Senate and House to pass a Repeal and Replacement of Obamacare, this discussion fostered some rather unorthodox views. To Hewitt's credit he did label all 5 healthcare systems in America as broken, but then went on to claim that McCain's vote, which defeated the Senate's healthcare bill, was a vendetta against McConnell. Benson, in turn, blamed the House Freedom Conference for the problems encountered by the House in crafting its bill.
Once again Joe spoke up in his usual no-hold-back way: "If Republicans can't get something done, we will lose the House." In countering Joe's pessimistic view, Benson said: "Thank God for having Nancy Pelosi as Leader in the U.S House." As to the Senate, "We have ten Democrats in the Senate up in 2018 for re-election whose states were won by Donald Trump." Not to be outdone, Walsh came back with, "Republicans haven't done squat!"
The two most shocking revelations of the night were 1) comments by Hewitt and Benson about how they viewed Republican leaders McConnell and Ryan and 2) whether they were supportive of Senator Jeff Flake's re-election bid in Arizona given his public assault on Trump.
Walsh stated unequivocally that both Ryan and McConnell have been in office way too long and new blood is needed in the House and Senate leadership positions. There will also be no endorsement forthcoming from Joe for Senator Flake.
Not so with Hugh Hewitt who described Mitch McConnell as the "best leader Republicans have had in the Senate for years." His support of Mitch seemed to be based solely in that McConnell had saved the Supreme Court by getting Judge Gorsuch confirmed. Benson likewise touted the Gorsuch appointment to the Supreme Court, further noting that it's difficult to corral the members of the Senate.
As a friend of House Leader Paul Ryan, Benson further expressed the need for Ryan's institutional expertise to govern. Notwithstanding that Arizona's Senator Flake has a visceral dislike for Trump and that Senate Leader Mitch McConnell is doing all he can to keep Flake in the Senate with massive funds available to him to spend to keep the status quo in the Senate, both Hewitt and Benson are on the side of Mitch McConnell in their support of Flake, believing that it's better to keep the seat Republican by eviscerating a Republican challenger, even if the "R" in front of Flake's name means nothing.
Grades Assigned to Trump by Benson, Hewitt and Walsh
Near the end of the event, Benson, Hugh, and Walsh gave their own letter grade as to how they viewed Trump's seven months in office and the reason for their grade. Having heard how Benson and Hewitt were less than complimentary in many of their comments, I was surprised by the marks both Benson and Hugh assigned President Trump.
Guy Benson, in averaging all his likes and dislikes, arrived at a "C". Benson likes Trump's conservative cabinet and the appointment of Justice Gorsuch.
Hugh Hewitt assigned Trump a "B". Mentioned specifically for not giving Trump a higher grade was Hewitt's belief that Trump's Department of Defense is a failure. He said the Secretary of State should have been John Bolton or Nikki Haley.
Joe Walsh assigned the highest mark to Trump, an "A-", further mentioning all the amazing things going on after the regulatory government of the past administration.
In Conclusion
Although Joe Walsh makes known his disappointment with President Trump on his weekday radio program, he did express his support for Trump on almost every issue and stood out as the most supportive of Trump. Joe is honest, blunt, not always politically correct, and you know where he stands. These are the same traits that appeal to Trump supporters and why they remain loyal to him, despite efforts to discredit him. Hewitt exposed himself as an establishment Republican talk show host, while Guy Benson pegged himself as just another establishment Republican
Voices of dissent could be heard from time to time from those in attendance when displeasing Trump remarks were made, but as is apt to happen when an audience of Republican conservatives and Tea Party members are brought together, they were respectful of the speakers. However, stunned looks could be seen on the faces of those in attendance as they left the event, still puzzling over some of what Hewitt and Benson had to say.
I also talked to several attendees on the way out of the event who felt the same way about Hugh Hewitt and Guy Benson. Questions and Answers were entertained, but had to be cut short when Joe Walsh announced that Hugh Hewitt had to leave because because had to be up early the next morning for his radio show.