Not My Preacher – Op-Ed by Rep. Jeremy Faison, Dist 11

Op-Ed by: Jeremy Faison, TN House of Representatives, District 11, Chairman of GOP Caucus

Do you remember being a child and thinking how incredible it would be to be the president? As a young child walking down Pennsylvania Avenue, I can still remember standing in front of the White House. I instantly became enamored with politics. Recently, I found myself in the Oval Office waiting to meet President Donald Trump. As I waited, I overheard the president make a crude joke to people in his office and curse multiple times. This was my first time meeting the president, and I wasn’t in the least bit shocked nor offended. He is a great big personality. He is at times loud, he is at times crass, he certainly is not a traditional politician. He shoots from the hip and leans on his skills acquired from building a billion-dollar empire to guide him in making decisions for our country. Americans voted for him in 2016 because of his experience as an outsider businessman, not as a politician. The man I saw in the Oval Office is the same man he was on the campaign trail four years ago. He hasn’t changed.

As I left the White House, I considered what a rare opportunity it is to meet a sitting president in the Oval Office. I also considered that I do not look to the president for spiritual guidance. I do not look to him for emotional consolation. I do not look to him as a moral compass. My train of thought continued as I considered what I want from the person who holds the most powerful position in the world. A few qualities came to mind: love of country, defends my country from enemies foreign and domestic, gets the burdensome government regulation out of the way so the economy can thrive. These are important because there is an enemy within and this enemy is diabolically opposed to everything that made this country great. This enemy knows nothing of personal accountability, individual liberty, or respect for man’s common law. This enemy acts like a bully and refuses to back down or listen to reason or study the error of his own ways. Socialism/Marxism eventually destroys every government/country it sinks its discriminatory tentacles into, and this ideology is the enemy Trump is fighting.

I will be voting again for President Trump, not because he is perfect. Regardless of his flaws, the President is a fighter. He fights in the trenches daily for the American people. He may lack subtlety, may tweet too much, and may be off-putting to some, but he does one thing that so many presidents before him could not: he gets the job done for America. He fights every day to implement the values Americans across this country hold dear and empowers all of us to reach for our American dreams. He told Americans this week, “Don’t be afraid of COVID,” and Democrats are losing their minds. Why? Because Democrats want us to live in fear and hide in our homes. They want you to believe our nation is divided. They want you to think our country is a chaotic place full of awful, racist people and we’re all going to die in this pandemic. COVID has presented them with a rare and unique opportunity to repackage and rebrand their growing government agenda and push socialist ideas.

Americans aren’t stupid. Our nation was founded on liberty, freedom, and independence, not coercion and government domination. Trump defends what everyday Americans feel about our country and our way of life. He isn’t worried about what people say. Trump fights back. He punches and he hits harder.  Maybe he’s not ‘nice’ enough for some, but I don’t need my commander-in-chief to be a ‘nice guy.’ I need him to be the leader of our nation who solidifies America’s standing as the beacon of hope for the world.

President Trump is not my emotional counselor. President Trump is not my moral compass. President Trump’s not my preacher, he’s my president.

Jeremy Faison is a Republican state representative from House District 11 in the Tennessee General Assembly, representing Cocke and parts of Jefferson and Greene counties. He chairs the House GOP Caucus. Faison is a small business owner and lives in Cosby.