Politics & Government
Trump will get ‘the public to work on his side’
Former U.S. Senate candidate Corey says, like Ronald Reagan, the president-elect is effective at 'messaging'
By Scott Benjamin
SOUTHINGTON – Republican Fran Collins – the former longtime Brookfield resident who was Speaker of the state House of Representatives 50 years ago – has said: “In politics, it is difficult to get back to a job that you once had.”
How did Donald Trump defy the laws of political gravity?
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“His messaging,” says Matt Corey, the Republican candidate who ran on the Trump platform in his unsuccessful bid this last November to unseat U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Hartford)
“The economy. The wars overseas and the borders. People were upset with Joe Biden. I think Trump resonated with this next generation that is coming up,” he explained.
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In an interview with Patch.com, Corey of Manchester commented “Trump is one of the few that accomplished [during his previous term] what he had said we was going to do on the campaign trail” – a thriving economy, fewer business regulations and a more secure border.
He said Trump attracted considerable support from a multi-racial coalition that has helped provide the GOP with control of the White House, both bodies of Congress, a majority of the governorships and made it more viable in Connecticut.
Corey remarked, “If you look at where he was campaigning: In the Bronx, in Detroit. Most of the money that came in was from the working-class voters.”
“He proposed having no income tax on tips,” said Corey, who owns a restaurant. “It resonated with a lot of people in the hospitality industry.” He said Trump’s pledge to eliminate income taxes on overtime pay had a similar impact.
“I ran on the Trump platform and I think we got the most votes for a U.S. Senate candidate in Connecticut in 10 years,” said Corey, who captured 39.7 percent of the ballots in the November 5 election to 58.6 percent for Murphy. The other votes went to the two independent candidates.
Regarding the news media, Corey said, “90 percent of it was negative coverage and the American voter wasn’t buying that.”
“The public wanted a change,” Corey commented. “A Kamala [Harris] Administration was going to be more of the same.”
Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Ben Proto said, “You asked the question if you were better off than you were four years ago? The answer to that question was always, ‘No.’ “
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman said on PBS in December, 2008 as Democrat Barack Obama was about to take office: “Ronald Reagan had it, at times Bill Clinton had it. They were so admired that they came out with a proposal and the public said, ‘You don’t have to explain this, just go ahead and do it.’ “
“That’s about messaging,” said Corey, who attended Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden shortly before the election.. “I think [Trump] is on the cusp of accomplishing that. Ronald Reagan had that, so whether you were a Republican or a Democrat he appeased the public and the public put pressure on Congress.”
“I think Trump has the talent to bring it to the public, because there is no re-election pressure,” said Corey who attended Trump’s January 2017 inauguration. “ I think he is going to get out as much information to the public as possible and have the public work on his side.”
Wall Street Journal columnist Karl Rove, the former George W. Bush political director, stated recently that “for the first time ever, Mr. Trump’s favorable rating in the RealClearPolitics average is higher than his unfavorable rating. Currently, it’s 48.9% to 47.9%.”
Chris Whipple - the author of “The Gatekeepers,” the 2017 book on the White House chief of staffs – has said that James Baker, who was chief of staff to Reagan and to Republican former President George H.W. Bush - was the gold standard for the position, because he would tell them when they were wrong.
Susie Wiles, the incoming chief of staff, is Pat Summerall’s daughter. Summerall kept John Madden coloring inside the lines. Can Wiles accomplish the same thing with Trump?
Corey commented, “He has surrounded himself with people who will challenge him. These are successful people. These are the smartest people.”
He said that he expects Trump to act promptly on securing the American borders.
“We need an immigration bill,” said Corey. “At the top of the list is having a safer border.”
He said the next step should be to extend the 2017 Trump tax cut and include the provisions on income tax exemptions on wait staff tips and on overtime.
As for the potential battles between Trump and the U.S. House Freedom Caucus, which has opposed raising the debt limit, Corey said he hopes “there is friction. We need strong debate on spending.”
Remarked Corey, [Trump] was a big-spend president in his first term., Hopefully he’s not going to be that same president this time.”
Catie Edmondson and Andrew Duehren of The New York Times reported that, “During his first administration, Mr. Trump approved $8.8 trillion of gross new borrowing and $443 billion of deficit reduction, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He saw a political upside to free-spending policies, including sending out stimulus checks stamped with his signature
“You’ve got to cut spending,” Corey said. “You can’t spend $2 trillion more [per year] than you take in.”
In 1990, Republican former President George H.W. Bush compelled Congress to establish the Pay As You Go budget controls after he announced that he was increasing federal income tax rates. Under Pay As You Go, spending increases have to be accompanied by higher taxes or equivalent reductions in other budget line items.
Commented Corey, “Things should be accounted for.”
Rove wrote this fall in The Wall Street Journal that both Social Security and Medicare are projected to reach insolvency in about a decade.
Corey said, “We need to get more people into the work force that will be paying into it.”
Should benefits be reduced?
“Not with affordability the way it is today,” said Corey.
Should there be a means test for the wealthy?
“I agree,” Corey said.
In 2008, Obama’s platform called for raising the amount of income exposed to the Social Security tax to $250,000.
Investopedia has reported that today an individual who earns under $168,600 in 2024 pays a 6.2% Social Security tax rate on their entire income. Someone who earns $200,000 per year pays that same percentage on just the first $168,600 of their income. The additional $31,400 over and above the $168,600 cap is effectively FICA tax-free.
Should that threshold be increased?
“I agree with that,” said Corey. “I don’t want to punish someone, but you need to help out if you can.”
Among Trump’s cabinet nominees is Linda McMahon of Greenwich, the former CEO of WWE, for Secretary of Education. She was the Republican nominee in Connecticut for the U.S. Senate in 2010 and 2012, losing both races.
Corey said she is an experienced “businesswoman,” who has served on the Board of Trustees at Sacred Heart University and for a year on the state Board of Education. She also has a degree in French with teaching credentials from East Carolina University.
According to The Wall Street Journal, in early December Trump started to waver on his nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who has been the subject of reports of questionable personal behavior.
Corey predicted that Hegseth, a former weekend host on Fox & Friends, will be confirmed and will “bring the military back to what it should be.”
“The problem is that recruiting is down in the military,” Corey commented. “There is social engineering: in the military.”
Amber Smith, a former U.S. helicopter pilot who has worked at the Pentagon, stated in her 2024 book, “Unfit To Fight,” that, “Wokeness used to be an annoying distraction in the U.S. military. Now it is a major threat to national security.”
Corey, who served in the U.S. Navy, said that Hegseth, a former National Guard officer, is “a warrior” who will revamp the military and boost recruitment.
Corey won the nomination last August in a primary over the convention-endorsed candidate, Gerard Smith, the first selectman of Beacon Falls. Corey won the convention endorsement and the primary in 2018 before losing to Murphy in the general election.
On November 25, about three weeks after the election, Corey distributed a news release criticizing Proto, the Connecticut Republican Party chairman, for discouraging candidates in Connecticut from making reference to Trump during the campaign. He added that since the election Proto has “been embracing” Trump’s legacy.
Wrote Corey, “during our campaign, the Connecticut GOP Chairman advised us that embracing President Trump or even mentioning his name would hurt candidates in the state. He justified this by citing past races, like the 2022 Senate race, where President Trump’s endorsement was said to have negatively impacted Republican campaigns in Connecticut.”
In a phone interview with Patch.com, Proto strongly disagreed with Corey’s statements. He said that a search through “Google” indicates that he spoke favorably of Trump in numerous interviews prior to the election.
Proto added that he served on the Platform Committee at the Republican National Convention in July in Milwaukee and “was invited to sit in the president’s box the night that he accepted the nomination.”
Commented Proto, “Those things don’t happen if you don’t support Mr. Trump.”
“It is unfortunate for Matt to have said that I didn’t support Donald Trump,” added Proto. “That is a flat-out lie.”
He continued, “I didn’t go to candidates and say, ‘Run away from Trump, Don’t talk about Trump.’ "
Said Proto, “My job is to unify the party. Matt still hasn’t said anything to me. I’ve seen him a number of times. He hasn’t made any comments to me.”
On another topic, Corey was critical of Murphy for his recent criticism of Trump during a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
Jamil Ragland of CT News Junkie reported that Murphy said, “What is happening right now is that Donald Trump and his billionaire advisers are unfolding for the country in real time a plan to transition this country from a democracy to a restrictive oligarchy, where political opposition is silenced, where the media isn’t free, and where government just exists to enrich a small cabal of elites that surround the man in charge.”
Corey called Murphy “an obstructionist and divisive senator.”
He said that Murphy, who was elected this fall to a third term, is in the minority party in the U.S. Senate and “Connecticut is looking in from the outside.”
Resources:
Interview with Matt Corey, Patch.com, on Saturday, December 21, 2024.
E-mail interview with Matt Corey, Patch.com, on Sunday, December 22., 2024.
Phone interview with Ben Proto, Patch.com, on Friday, December 27, 2024.
Matt Corey news release, November 25,2024.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/us/politics/gop-spending-hawks-trump-debt.html
Chris Whipple, “The Gatekeepers, Crown First Edition, 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/25/upshot/trump-era-republicans-democrats.html
https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2024/12/20/murphy-warns-about-the-end-of-american-democracy/
Amber Smith, “Unfit To Fight, Regnery, 2024.
https://www.amazon.com/Unfit-Fight-Policies-Destroying-Military/dp/1684514800
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-policy-elephant-in-the-2024-election-27e0b2de
Thomas Friedman on PBS, December, 2008.
Interview with Fran Collins, Brookfield Journal, November 2001.