Tomas D. Klingenstein is the Chairman of the Board at the Claremont Institute, a prominent conservative think tank. Tom recently gave a 17 min. speech about Trump titled “You Know His Vices, But Do You Know His Virtues?” He explains why Trump is the most towering political figure in living memory. It’s one of the most stunning insights into Trump, his virtues, and the current crisis Americans face. This speech should be a training tool for conservatives and sent to every liberal and RINO. It was featured on Mark Levin’s Radio Show this week. Watch it., listen to it, or read the transcript below.

While making the case for a 2024 Trump, Tom relives history and targets Republican doubters. There’s simply no other person that has the resolve and virtue of Trump. In short, Trump is perfectly built for the warlike fight we are faced with. Trump’s personality, work ethic, and manhood are what sets him apart, making him the ideal warrior against woke communism and corruption.

When people say “I like Trump…but..”, they should understand those “but” characteristics they dislike are the very traits that make Trump the best champion in our lifetime, for this current “cold” civil war.

Klingenstein explains: “If not Trump himself, his virtue must be the standard by which we judge any other Presidential candidate”. Given the destructive forces coming from inside America, we are truly lucky to have Donald J. Trump as a leader. “Doubters shouldn’t be bothered by a President who says Haiti is a shi_hole behind closed doors, or that Maxine Waters has a low IQ . Doubters should be worried about a candidate who can’t say it, won’t say it, or lies about saying it.”

Below are a few Trump reminders that Tom makes in his speech.

Trump knows the media can’t be negotiated with, or reformed. It must be defeated.Trump smoked out rats from hiding places. We now know our intelligence agencies are corrupt.We watched Trump loosen the grip of political correctness, while Repubs wouldn’t engage.Trump made it clear it’s a privilege to enter our country, foreigners should assimilate to us.Trump wants back that nostalgic America guided by relentless optimism, grit, and determination.Before Trump, politicians hid from the public that China is our mortal enemy. Now we all know.Trump’s virtue, backbone, and fortitude are the new standard to judge candidates.Trump’s supporters, and the spirit they embrace, are the new life force of the Rep Party.Trump was born for this current crisis, the life and death fight against woke communism.The “cold” civil war divide in our country was exposed by Trump, not created by him.In war you need strong men to make a stand. Trump is a manly man, with resolve.When you’re in the right, you fight to win. Sometimes this means doing distasteful things.Leadership strength is in short supply. Trump understands there are no clean hands in a fist fight.Trump wants people to learn how to love our country, not be taught how to hate it.

While making the case for a 2024 Trump, Tom relives history and targets Republican doubters. There’s simply no other person that has the resolve and virtue of Trump. In short, Trump is perfectly built for the warlike fight we are faced with. Trump’s personality, work ethic, and manhood are what sets him apart, making him the ideal warrior against woke communism and corruption. When people say “I like Trump…but..”, they should understand those “but” characteristics they dislike are the very traits that make Trump the best champion in our lifetime, for this current “cold” civil war.

TRUMP’S VIRTUES (Transcript)
Speech by Tom Klingenstein

00:00:00 – Many leading Republicans and conservatives want someone other than Donald Trump to run for president in 2024. They say we need someone with Trump’s virtue, but without his vices. Fair enough. But this formulation does not get us very far unless we have a proper accounting of his virtues.

00:00:37 – Other Republicans say some version of……I like Trump’s policies, but I don’t like the rest of him. This gets it almost backwards. Although Trump advanced many important policies, it is the rest of him that contains the virtue that inspired a movement. Trump was born for the current crisis, the life and death struggle against a totalitarian enemy, I call woke communism.

00:01:15 – The woke Coms (communists) clenched the Democratic Party by the scruff of its neck. They tell us lies, and they silence those who challenge the lies. Like most totalitarian regimes, they have a scapegoat. White males. And they have a narrative – America is systemically racist. And they have a utopian vision of society where all identity groups are equal, in all areas of American life.

00:01:54 – The woke Coms (communists) control all the cultural and economic powers in America from where they ruthlessly push their agenda. That agenda rests on the conviction that America is bad.  As Trump once said, their goal is not to make America better. Their goal is to end America. Make no mistake, we are in the midst of a cold Civil War. Trump awakened the public to this fact.

00:02:39 – You cannot win a war unless you know you’re in one. Trump’s critics say he caused or exacerbated the divide in this country. No he DID NOT! He revealed, not caused, an existing divide. In war we must make a stand. For that we need strong men. Weak men do anything to avoid admitting the hardest truth because they lack the resolve to do what truth demands of them.

00:03:17 – Trump is a manly man. In present time, when manhood is being stripped of its masculinity traditional manhood even when flawed is absolutely essential. Trump ripped apart people he thought were weak. Sometimes he went overboard. But his supporters excused this excesses because strength is in such short supply. Trump plays to win. When you’re in the right, you have a moral duty not just to fight, but to win. And sometimes that means doing distasteful things. There are no clean hands in a fist fight.

00:04:15 – If there is one thing people know about Donald Trump is that he, unlike the woke Coms (communists), loves America. He wants to preserve the American way of life. Trump is unreservedly, and unquestionably pro-America. He makes no apologies for America’s path. Trump is a refreshing break from the guilt and self-loathing that marks our age. The America Trump wants to recover is the America of his youth. Not out of nostalgia, but because this was in America guided by relentless optimism, and supported by grit and determination. An America that had done great things in the past and was eager to do more. An America that was properly confident.

00:05:27 – Trump is still confident in America. In this time of national doubt, this too is just what the doctor ordered. Trump thinks we can vanquish all-comers if we just put our mind to it. And he’s right. Trump has the courage to defend his own people. A large and impressive political fact. And courage never demands perfection.

00:06:03 – Trump stood up for America every time he violated the structure of political correctness. He said over and over exactly what political correctness prohibits one from saying. We have a culture, it’s exceptional, and that’s the way we want to keep it. Trump has made it clear that we have no duty to allow anyone to come into this country. And no one has a right to come here. This is our country. And when we do allow foreigners the privilege to come here, they must, as Trump once said, support our values, and love our people.

00:07:06 – Trump said Haiti is a shithole, and that representative Maxine Waters has a low IQ. These were not racist lies. These were uncouth politically incorrect observation that most of us would agree with. But would not dare say. Conservatives no less than liberals, are reluctant to criticize black Americans for fear of being called a racist. Trump, on the other hand is an equal opportunity criticizer. We used to call that color blindness. From morning to night we were told that Trump is a racist. But endless repetition does not make it true. It isn’t!

00:08:01 – Trump’s contempt for political correctness showed patriotic Americans that it’s ever tightening grip could be loosened. As Trump and his supporters know, political correctness cripples our ability to think clearly, and act decisively. It is difficult to overestimate the significance of Trump’s fight against political correctness. A fight which most Republicans are reluctant to engage. Only if Americans and their leaders stand up to political correctness, and show it the contempt it deserves, is there any chance of preserving the American way of life.

00:09:00 – Trump treated the woke media with the same contempt he treated political correctness. Provoking their outrage, and revealing their utter corruption. It seems only Trump understands that the media can neither be negotiated with, nor reformed.  It must be defeated. Unlike most politicians, when Trump sees a problem, he goes out and fixes it. He fixed our porous borders. He moved our Israeli Embassy to Jerusalem after decades of inaction. He eliminated the “hate America” critical race theory in his administrative agency. He developed a vaccine in record time. He achieved energy independence. And much, much, more.

00:10:09 – Trump is guided by fact and common sense. He has no use for theories. Because he knows that slavish devotion to theories leads to nonsense. For instance, that children should be able to change their sex. Or that it is wise to defund the police. Or that biological boys should be able to compete with girls in athletics. I am certain that Trump finds it impossible to believe…..that a woman…can be a He.

00:10:52 – With Trump, what you see is what you get. Authenticity is something you have, or you don’t. But it takes courage and independence to live authentically. In politics, most find it almost impossible NOT to be phony. Not Trump. Trump taught a crucial thing. For starters, that China is a mortal enemy. Before Trump, the public did not realize it. Now the public does. Likewise, free trade, accepted as a dogma by Republicans and Democrats, is now highly contested. These changes in public sentiment are big accomplishments made possible by qualities other than policy.

00:11:54  – Trump smoked rats out of hiding places. Because of Trump, we know our intelligence agencies are corrupt. We know also that the mainstream media is not just bias. But it is the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party. A large part of Trump’s appeal was that he was a bona fide outsider. He distrusted the experts, who believed they know better than the average American, how to run the country.

00:12:34 – This distrust was appealing to Trump’s base who believe, and with good reason, that it is the experts who have created the despotic mess in which we find ourselves. Although his own administration sometimes made it difficult for him to get done everything he promised. His supporters knew he was on their side, and was trying his damnedest, not to let them down.

00:13:10 – Against the advice of most in his party, Trump has not let go of the claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. His base backs him, and well they should. They know that Republicans will lose all future elections until they get to the bottom of the last one. Trump connected to his audience as Reagan did. Because each spoke as a citizen, to fellow citizens, without a trace of condescension. It wasn’t an act, and Americans knew it.

00:13:58 – Trump may not have worked on a construction site, but he knew his way around one. One can imagine him trading gaudy jokes with his construction workers. Other presidents have represented the middle class. But none with Trump’s common touch. Trump understands, as does the outsourced American worker, that a cheap smartphone is no replacement for a job, and a life that it supports. Trump also understands that what Americans of all races and creeds desire are stable communities, and the opportunity to raise their families in a culture that values hard work, self-reliance, patriotism, and freedom.

00:14:59 – Some will say Trump is a bad man and that disqualifies him. I do not think Trump is a bad man. But for those that do…I remind them that a bad man, in some circumstances, can be a good president. If you’re dying of thirst and there is only one person offering you water, you accept the water gratefully, without much concern for the character of your rescuer.

00:15:36 – This enumeration of Trump’s virtue does not fully capture his uncommon courage, and firmness of purpose. Trump is the most towering political figure in living memory. He had, like it or not, defined the politics of our age. In 2016 and 2020, he was the political leader most fit to lead in our warlike circumstances. Trump inspired a movement. If properly deployed, this movement might challenge the woke Coms (communists), and God willing, save the country.

00:16:34 – Republicans however, should not forget that it is his support, and the spirit they embrace, that has become the life force of the Republican Party. Among the seen talked about alternatives to Trump, I have not yet seen anyone who possess it, or even fully understands Trump’s virtue. Nor have I anyone with his backbone and fortitude. One does not appreciate the strength of relentless gale force winds. until one is in the eye of the storm.

00:17:08 – I am not suggesting that it is time for everyone to make way for Trump. Rather, that it is much too early to throw him overboard. If Republicans do choose another leader to lead the Trump movement, they must do so in full confidence that he will embody Trump’s virtue. If not Trump himself, his virtue must be the standard by which we judge other candidates. Thank you.  [Applause]

Here is the full video of Tomas Klingestein’s speech.

(Article by Jim Hoft republished from TheGatewayPundit)