Actions v. Words › American Greatness
Roger Kimball
One of the biggest differences between Donald Trump and other politicians is that Trump does what others only talk about.
It’s become a popular sport to dig up video clips from lefty politicians like Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, and Barack Obama, who once upon a time said things about subjects like trade, tariffs, government spending, and immigration that sound a lot like Donald Trump or Elon Musk today. Here, for example, is Obama on the subject of rooting out “wasteful spending” in “a systematic way.” Here he is on immigration.
People who say, “Oh, they’re just hypocrites,” are, I believe, misunderstanding the situation. It’s possible—even likely—that hypocrisy comes into the equation. More important is their assessment of political reality.
In the introduction to his translation of Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy, Harvey Mansfield observes that Machiavelli believed that to understand political situations correctly, “one must not listen to the intent of the words people use but rather look at the necessities they face.” Most politicians accept the political chessboard they inherit. They are prepared to make moves—even dramatic ones—on the given field of play. They are unwilling or unable to change or challenge that field.
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https://amgreatness.com/2025/04/06/actions-v-words/
