June 13, 2017 12:29PM

Does President Trump Support “Unrestrained Freedom”?

By David Boaz

The Republican National Committee, in the person of Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel, informs me that I “have been selected to represent the Commonwealth of Virginia as a member of The President’s Club.” I know that this is an important responsibility because it comes with a Priority Mail BRE and a request for $750. There’s a lot of boilerplate in the letter about “fake news” and the Democrats and their “radical left‐​leaning allies.” (Really, if they’re radical, surely they’re more than “left‐​leaning.” Why not just come out and say it — they’re left‐​wingers!)


But I’m particularly struck by this line:

I believe you share President Trump’s objectives of smaller government, fiscal discipline, lower taxes, secure borders, conservative judges, a stronger military and unrestrained freedom.

Seriously — President Trump’s objective is “unrestrained freedom”?


Some of those objectives I can see. Fiscal discipline is a presumptuous claim when you’ve promised not to touch the biggest spending programs. Some of the administration’s programs might make government smaller, but others clearly would not. But seriously, “unrestrained freedom”?


For nearly two years now Donald Trump’s main policy themes have been to close our borders, to deport millions of our neighbors and co‐​workers, and to stop Americans from buying products made overseas. He has bullied, subsidized, and threatened businesses into making uneconomic decisions. He has also talked at length about his desire to limit freedom of speech, frustrated as he is that “our press is allowed to say whatever they want.” While Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the states work on criminal justice reform Attorney General Jeff Sessions steps up the drug war. Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention was described in Reason as “easily the most overt display of authoritarian fear‐​mongering I can remember seeing in American politics.”


The idea that President Trump’s objectives include “unrestrained freedom” is ludicrous even in the context of political fundraising letters.