By George S. Corey
Art by CLEO
Transitions Redux: 2024
For You, O Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in loving kindness and overflowing in mercy to all those who call upon You.
—Psalm 86:5
This week my Dad wrote a letter to me and my brothers and sisters telling us why he was voting for Donald Trump for President in 2024.
He had written us all a similar letter four years ago, and he had voted for Trump in 2016 as well.
Four years ago, I wrote about my Dad’s 2020 letter in a coda to my first book of political satire Presidential Conversations, which had just been published.
I wrote then about how my Dad was the finest man I’ve known, about how I had lost faith in all men (my natural father had abandoned our family a decade before) until my Dad (my Step-Dad) redeemed men in my eyes.
I wrote how my Dad helped me build a life for which I am proud. And, I wrote about the struggle among family and friends, split along political lines.
Working on my books Presidential Conversations and Presidential Conversations for Kids, the various codas to each, and The Social Contract podcast—which I created with The Artist CLEO, now in its third season—has been one of the most fulfilling undertakings of my life. This work has literally changed my life.
It must be said that none of it would have been possible without the inspiration and art of CLEO. Every idea behind each story was conjured by CLEO; I merely spun the tales.
Among the many pieces I have authored, the coda about my Dad’s 2020 letter was among the most difficult to write. It was also among the best received for what was called its heartfelt and universal appeal.
And now, here we are in 2024, and this response to my Dad’s most recent electoral letter is once again among the most gut-wrenching and redemptive things I have written.
I approached my Dad’s 2024 letter as I did his 2020 letter, with equal parts openness and trepidation, my responses to both underscored by forgiveness and love.
From my Dad’s letter sent in October 2024:
I will feel very bad if I do not give you a summary of my opinions before election day on November 5th.
We live in a dangerous economic and political moment. The Democrats have shown they have no depth of leadership. They elevated candidates no one voted for. No primary elections. Is that Democracy? I am not happy with either side but electing a group that shows no leadership ability at all, I cannot accept.
Americans have been becoming populists since Andrew Jackson. Though populism is “support for the concerns of ordinary people,” it’s all too easy to become a populist bankrupt country like Argentina. We are fast on the way.
Social Security and Medicare are entitlements that were created about when I was born. Now our president creates entitlements by the dozens without congressional action. Think of illegal aliens and sanctuary cities and states, filling hotels (I used to use) and giving aliens cell phones, food, clothing, education, Medicare, debit cards, etc.
Biden and Harris are enacting massive social programs like paying off student loans, $25,000 for homebuyers, $50,000 for starting small businesses. These programs have little economic benefit except as giveaways to curry voters. But Democrats led by Biden and Harris compound bad economic policy by benefiting only illegal aliens and people on welfare who are not earners. The benefits, however misguided, could be far greater utilized by hard-working Americans who immigrated legally or were born here.
Biden and Harris and the Democrats even passed massive entitlements like the “earned income child care credit” that benefit illegal aliens and people on welfare, who have no earnings. This is a gift not a credit. As a result, US debt increased by $2 trillion this fiscal year to $30 trillion despite historically low unemployment. Do you want more of that? Do you think weak economic leadership is the answer? You get my concern.
A president, commander in chief, leader of our economy, needs to be a negotiator with heads of state, especially with the Middle East, Russia, and China. But Harris is grossly unqualified.
And where is the Congressional leadership? Out of 535 members of Congress (both the House and Senate), at least 500 do no legislation; they are preoccupied only with their own reelections and fundraising, mainly from special interests rather than constituents. At the very least, having a comprehensive immigration law seems to me a must issue for every member of Congress.
The Democrats are using our court system to destroy their enemies. You could just as easily be watching news about dictators and autocrats who just kill those who disagree with them? Washington DC’s Democrats are making it easier for only them to use our court system to destroy their enemies. I think we should eliminate all of that and make a lot of noise doing it.
And Biden and Harris and the Democrats are forcing the Green New Deal on all of us, and ruining our economy by mandating ridiculously high-cost alternative energy sources. We are run by idiots with no economic or practical intelligence. The US has 340 million residents. The world has over 8 billion. Some of our largest businesses were forced by Biden and Harris and the Democrats to pledge “no fossil fuels by 2030.
Do you believe that we and all the truckers and farmers and about 200 countries in the world will accept the Green New Deal and pay 30% higher energy bills? Of course not! The US and the industrialized world will insist on defunding, deflating, and eliminating the Green New Deal and the ridiculously high costs of alternative energy sources it mandates and growing our economies with lower fossil fuel sources. It’s just math.
I prefer living in a free democracy. Many of the larger countries are now autocratic dictatorships, socialists, Marxist, etc. We need stronger and more focused leaders than we have now, but the Democrats are going in the wrong direction. I want to stop that and try hard to get back to stability, less spending, and relearning how to compromise.
You need to educate yourself on the background of the candidates and what their plan for the future will be. Don’t just listen to the “spin” by Washington insiders, or you will not get real answers. The spin you hear today is not what candidates have been doing and promoting while in and out of office.
You will not be happy if November 5th passes and the country has voted in another candidate who was asleep in the basement. While Biden was literally stuck in his Delaware beach house basement because of Covid, Harris’ reality is worse because she is figuratively stuck in the Veep’s mansion basement due to being unqualified, unprepared, and fearful.
Listen to a variety of sources every day. Be an informed voter. I cannot imagine electing a US president with no leadership skills or experience.
Remember that Harris was declared the most liberal member of the US Senate and considered the most progressive prosecutor when she was the attorney general enforcer in California. That is not what I want for you or me.
Best Wishes and Good Voting,
Dad
And here is my response:
Since Trump came down his gold escalator nine years ago in June 2015, I have been discussing Trump and his many failures as a president, as a citizen and as a fellow human being, with my family and friends, as well as my Dad and other Trump supporters, and anyone I knew or met that was “Trump-curious.”
In fact, I started writing political satire in the leadup to Trump taking office as a way to explain him to my fourteen nieces and nephews. They were all under 13 then, and now, the youngest is 13. Despite their ages, they all now understand that “character” is the lodestone of the Office of the Presidency, that political and cultural compasses should point to the Presidency as the North Star of political strength, wisdom, and unity.
Many people supporting Vice President Harris are triggered by the contentiousness of this election. Many of them also have relatives who are voting for Trump—in some instances for the third time. They are good hearted enough and want reconciliation so much that if Trump wins, they will find a way to be happy for those who voted for him (or at least content). At least they will not be alone in their disappointment. While I sincerely appreciate that spirit, I do not want to be agreeable if it means having to look away.
Harris and Charlemagne tha God recently discussed faith and a God that is kind; they discussed character and values. If you blow up your house, where you gonna live? That struck me because if Trump blew up this country, I believe his supporters would cheer.
And, so, the most difficult realization for me in considering my Dad’s latest “Why I am Voting for Trump” letter is that Trump’s voters are perfectly fine with Trump.
He is what they want because Trump encourages every “ism.” I could have written despite encouraging every ‘ism, but reality must be acknowledged. In their support, they assume his worst attributes by association.
But, as I wrote in 2020 in response to the divisions in this beautiful country, love is still and always will be the answer.
Whether you approve of Harris as a politician or a former prosecutor, we can observe how she embraces former Trump voters, current Republicans and Independents and welcomes them. She has even earned the support of former congresswoman Liz Cheney and her father the former Vice President Dick Cheney, among many others. Harris and Governor Walz are putting the ideas of love and acceptance into action.
The truth is very difficult to admit; that Trump supporters want Trump for exactly who he is. For years I have argued that FOX Business Channel-focused Republicans only cared about their 401Ks and tax cuts.
But now I realize that the real issue is the rule of law. Of all the issues, I simply cannot reconcile with nor convince my Dad, and other Trump supporters, is how Trump is the “law and order” candidate over Harris in their eyes.
At the time of the 2020 letter, rule of law related to lawlessness around the Black Lives Matter movement as well as protests in cities around the country. In the 2024 letter, rule of law relates to lawlessness of illegal immigrants.
My family left Lebanon and immigrated to the United States when I was a young boy because they wanted to live and raise me in a country of laws and peace. So, this is a particularly personal issue to me.
My Dad worked hard his whole life, and he cannot abide people being given entitlements they did not earn. My Dad used my own podcast name to reinforce his point, that this is the way we truly fulfill the social contract.
To my Dad and other like-minded Republicans, the line in the sand is about not allowing illegal aliens to receive any entitlements that are perceived to be unearned. And now, it has become a permission structure to allow for a proposed mass deportation of millions of illegal immigrants.
Trump says to his followers “I am your vengeance” and “I am your retribution.” We must all recognize that societies and governments have no right to be vengeful; they have a sole responsibility to enforce and punish within the law. As the Bible tells us, "Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord.” The verse is a reminder to leave vengeance to God and instead overcome evil with good. For example, Romans 12:20 suggests feeding and giving a drink to an enemy who is hungry or thirsty.
However, good does not mean weak. The vice president admitted publicly to Oprah Winfrey in a town hall that she (Harris) has a gun and would use it to defend her home. She gave further details on 60 Minutes when she told Bill Whitaker that she owned a Glock.
As a former member of law enforcement, Harris said she respects the Second Amendment (as does my Dad). Her running mate Tim Walz is a lifelong hunter, former master sergeant in the National Guard, and a gun owner himself.
Rule of law? I reminded my Dad that Trump was indicted on 98 counts, convicted on 34, and found civilly liable for half a billion dollars in corporate fraud, and $200 million for defamation from a civilly adjudicated sexual abuse determination. That’s not law and order.
And my Dad’s latest letter denigrates Harris’ ability to be a capable commander in chief, diplomat, and president. This is despite Harris standing with Biden as they built a 50-country coalition, with NATO at its core, to defend democratic values in Ukraine.
No one is making 47% of Americans support Trump. They support Trump because he is giving them what they want. And what they want is hard for the rest of us to acknowledge. Perhaps the cruelest yet most fitting irony is that Trump reviles his loyalists. He looks down on them and sees them as rubes to swindle.
I did all I could to reason with my Dad and over a dozen Trump supporters who voted for Trump twice before and would again. In this election round, “reason with” means “I begged."
It didn’t work with the most important voter, my Dad. But I know I got through to the others! It’s about embracing people where they are, taking that extra step, and even if you can’t agree at least you’ve met!
So, as Election Day looms, I am exhausted, yes. But I am also hopeful. We need only look at one of the works The Artist CLEO contributed to this Transitions Redux to remind us where to look, where to go: FORWARD!
In closing, I believe that we must turn to redemption. Trump supporters are our family, countrymen, and fellow human beings. As Harris does with Republicans, Democrats,
Independents, and voters of all stripes, I embrace and welcome them in. As Hillary’s campaign slogan from 2016 reminds us, we are stronger together. The United States of America is our home—all of us. I know that I will always have a home with my Dad, just as he knows he will always have one with me. We are family, just like America.
Best Wishes and Good Voting,
George S. Corey
Presidential Transitions: 2020
Let me get this out of the way straight out of the gate: My father is the man I most admire. In fact, I plan on dedicating my next book to him. (Sorry, Dad, I guess the cat’s out of the bag.)
My father was educated at the best schools and has been a top professional in the world of finance. He is also a lifelong what we call “CNBC Republican.” More importantly, he raised us kids with a sense of honor and dignity, and instilled in us all a deep love of this country.
With his generosity, humor and kindness, he has led by example his entire life. A quick story to illustrate this point: On my twenty-first birthday, I wrecked my Dad’s brand-new car. But he didn’t scold me or even raise his voice; he was just happy that I walked away untouched. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, “You’re okay, so I’m okay. Don’t worry, we’ll work this out.”
In that moment, and in so many moments like that throughout my life, I have felt my father’s hand on my shoulder — whether he was physically present or not.
Then, Trump happened. It was bad enough that my father voted for Trump in 2016, but I and my siblings more or less wrote it off as an excusable lapse in judgement — a momentary one. But in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, he revealed that he had once again voted for Trump. He put his thoughts to us kids in a letter he titled “Why I Voted for Trump”:
The Democrats wanted us to vote based on Trump’s personality. I didn’t like Trump either, but there were more important issues for me, like law and order and the economy.
There were fewer Trump yard signs or bumper stickers than anyone expected to see in Republican neighborhoods like ours, because people were afraid of vandalism or even gunfire into their own homes. In Kenosha, the so-called peaceful protesters caused $50 million of property damage. In Minneapolis, it was estimated that 100 nights of “peaceful protests” caused $500 million of damage. This wasn’t caused by Republicans.
None of the Democrat mayors or governors in Blue States and cities took decisive action against the rioters. Instead, they adopted catch-and-release programs for lifetime criminals and repeat offenders. This misguided practice, combined with years of fiscal mismanagement and high taxes, has caused a flood of citizens to flee to better-run Red States.
The Democrats are also in favor of higher taxes and more regulations. Trump oversaw a booming economy before Covid-19 hit – an economy he energized with a historic tax cut and wholesale gutting of regulations that had been choking the economy. Democrats cannot expect to achieve this level of growth – and growth is the only way to get out of this pandemic recession.
I have never been any of the things the Democrats and the media accuse people like me of being, like a racist or a sexist. What I have been – and what I remain – is a law and order, fiscally conservative, anti-regulation Republican, who has no time for political correctness, and who had no choice in 2020 but to Vote Trump. And I’m not alone.
This time, it was more difficult to reconcile my deep love for my father with my disdain for how he voted. It’s something that I – and I suspect many other Americans –are still grappling with. No matter how hard I struggled, I could not find peace or solace.
Then, one night, I found myself awoken from the sound of the television blaring in another room. I arose from my bed, as if in a trance, and followed the sound of a familiar, fatherly voice booming through a microphone.
I walked, practically floating, into the next room and realized the voice was emanating from President-elect Joe Biden. By now I realized I was in a dream. But I was in no rush to awaken. Now I was experiencing the kind of surreal, out-of-body sensation that the writer in me had caused President Trump to experience, as he came face to face with other Presidents of the United States, past and present, in my book Presidential Conversations.
Biden was at a podium, a bank of U.S. flags in the background, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at his side. Her arms were crossed, regal, like a Praetorian Guard, a knowing smile beaming across her face as she looked admiringly at the next Commander in Chief. Together, they projected strength, serenity and confident determination.
Biden spoke in his warm, quietly soulful voice. “Since the election, I have been saying that we need to come together. I have been urging Republicans and Democrats – not only in Washington, but in our towns and communities, even in our own families – to reach out to each other. Remember, folks, we’re all Americans. And we have always been able to move on, as one American family, from even the most vicious campaigns and most contentious elections.
“Look, I’ve been in politics for most of my life. I know that people are passionate on both sides. But that’s part of what makes us great. And I know that presidential transitions, just like life transitions, can be rough. Sometimes they even hurt. But I call those ‘growing pains.’
“I hear it when people ask me, ‘Joe, how are we going to deal with the 74 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump?’”
Biden looked down and smiled to himself. “Well folks, what if we starting thinking about it as ‘healing’ rather than ‘dealing’? And what if we did more than just think about it?” He then extended an open palm.
“Healing is going to require action. You know, I get a lot of strength from my faith. Ecclesiastes tells us ‘He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.’
“So we’ve gotta do the work, folks – for the Soul of the Nation, for the Good of the Nation. Where do we begin? Well we begin to heal our divided country the same way we heal our fractured families.”
Biden then looked directly into the camera, and it felt like he was looking at me.
“We start with love and forgiveness, and knowing that in a family love means forgiveness. We start with a belief in our Better Angels as Americans, and a recognition of this great nation’s capability for progress and even redemption.
“We’re facing tough times, folks: joblessness, our climate crisis, and of course this deadly pandemic. But love will push us forward. Love will embolden us to forgive. It’s love that will bind our wounds. And we’ve gotta start by reaching out to the people we love – then, hopefully, by reaching out across the aisle here in Washington for the benefit of the American people. All the American people.”
Biden then reached for Harris’s hand, and as they raised them up together he proclaimed: “We are going to work for all Americans – the ones who voted for us and the ones who didn’t. And we will lead this country together under one banner. Our hearts are full with an abiding love for this country! Our fists are clenched in determination! And our heads are held high with pride!”
When I woke up, it was morning. The sun reflected magnificently on the freshly fallen snow. It was suddenly so bright, I had to squint. And on this morning, this new day in America, I resolved to call my Dad for the first time in many weeks, and ask how he’s doing.