Every time I write about Donald Trump I cringe a bit.

I love you guys, but I take so much crap because I have mixed feelings about him that I wish I could ignore him. But given that he is the frontrunner for the Republican Party nomination for president, that is simply not possible.

So here I go again. Get ready to hit me for being a RINO NeverTrumper who hates Orange and wants the country handed over to the Democrats or something.

I get it. I’m ready. Go for it. I can take it like a man. <cringe>

I’ve been storing up a lot of thoughts over the weeks about Trump’s rather weird strategy this election cycle. I am not going to do a deep dive right now, but let me make an overarching observation: Trump is running, at least at times, as a liberal.

Yep. He is.

TRUMP: "I used to get along great with" Gavin Newsom!"

TUCKER: "Wait, you got along with Gavin Newsom?!"

TRUMP: "He was always very nice to me. He said the greatest things."

TUCKER: "About you?!"

TRUMP: "About me." pic.twitter.com/qO6ebk307V

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 12, 2023

President Trump endorses Stacey Abrams over Brian Kemp: "Of course, having her [Stacey Abrams] might be better than having your existing governor [Brian Kemp]."pic.twitter.com/XLSd9ogyM8

— Facts Nordau (@MaxNordau) April 12, 2023

There’s a lot of evidence to point at this, although his hating Democrats with a passion tends to fog up our glasses about it. But look at the evidence. Exhibit A is his new position on abortion: it doesn’t matter for the presidency.

That’s new.

As I said a while ago, this primary will be different because Trump is attacking his main opponent *from the Left.* The Trump team in just the last week has come out against the Bud Light boycott, taken Disney’s side in their fight with DeSantis, and now this. https://t.co/N0D3rgPJpu

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 20, 2023

For those interested in the original tweet Matt is quoting, it’s this. It’s a story about how different Republican candidates are dealing with the political minefield of abortion.

Donald Trump just committed to "no federal role" on the issue of abortion.

In other words, he's pro-choice now.https://t.co/ogefjF5hxK

— Jon Schweppe (@JonSchweppe) April 20, 2023

Trump’s position is actually defensible if an uncomfortable one for a pro-lifer like me. He argues that overturning Roe sent the issue back to the states, and that is where it belongs. This is, even for a pro-lifer, totally defensible not as a moral statement but as one reflecting a reasonable interpretation of the  Constitution. It is not one I fully share, but it is defensible as a principled decision.

Former president Donald Trump has barely spoken about the issue, telling advisers that he believes it is a difficult one for Republicans and not something he should focus his time on. His campaign did not directly answer whether Trump agreed with the six-week ban in Florida or what policies he would support nationally but instead said Trump believes the issue should be left up to individual states. “States’ rights,” Trump has said privately when advisers have floated the issue, adding his assessment that they should not talk about it.

“President Donald J. Trump believes that the Supreme Court, led by the three Justices which he supported, got it right when they ruled this is an issue that should be decided at the State level,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. “Republicans have been trying to get this done for 50 years, but were unable to do so. President Trump, who is considered the most pro-life President in history, got it done. He will continue these policies when reelected to the White House. Like President Reagan before him, President Trump supports exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.”

As a constitutionalist, I cannot disagree entirely, although there is a lot of wiggle room when it comes to medical regulations and probably setting limits on the time, place, manner, and age of the fetus.

It certainly isn’t clear that simply because there is no Constitutional right to abortion, as had been ruled in Roe, there is a Constitutional prohibition regarding legislation restricting abortion. After all, the Democrats talked about putting Roe into federal law. Presumably, the Republicans could use the same reasoning to set restrictions.

In any case, the fine legalities don’t matter politically, except to members of the Federalist Society, whom I have not polled. What matters is what social conservatives who will vote in primaries think, and I can’t imagine they are happy.

In fact, they are not.

Students for Life president @KristanHawkins is right: pic.twitter.com/nlyNZWLnz5

— Jon Schweppe (@JonSchweppe) April 20, 2023

Pro-lifers who have been a core constituency for Trump are likely to feel abandoned. This could merely be a political move by Trump, but it is hardly taking a brave stance against the establishment–a place Trump used to claim as his own.

Abortion isn’t the only issue Trump has lurched Left on, though. Defending Budweiser and Disney against conservative criticism are both head-scratchers of positions, given the mood of the Republican voter. Trump didn’t just stay out of these battles–he actively chose the side of the liberals over the conservatives.

COMPARE in their own words:

DeSantis and Trump Jr on the Bud Light issue.

Who do you agree with? pic.twitter.com/NzP36HRLVu

— Jenna Ellis 🇺🇸 (@JennaEllisEsq) April 17, 2023

He wants conservatives to go back to drinking Bud Light and sit their kids down in front of Disney’s propaganda, and his explanation for why is pretty odd.

Telling his supporters not to attack these companies because of their ability to throw dollars at Trump is a very bad look–essentially arguing that they should get a by because they are willing to pay political protection money is exactly the opposite of draining the swamp.

Don Jr. defended Bud because they give more to Republicans than Democrats, while The Don himself picks Disney’s side after they gave him a ton of money in the 2020 election.

That's exactly what's happening, and I don't want to hear another word about how Trump is the *only* candidate who can't be controlled by donors. He's shown himself to be the *most* controlled by them. https://t.co/0yCDX3Zcsb

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) April 18, 2023

And, of course, draining the swamp is another issue he has a problem with right now. By his own reasoning the Swamp is what defeated him–illegitimately, to be sure–in the last election. So his proven ability to beat back the kudzu is nonexistent.

Hiring good people? He and his supporters have been busy attacking nearly every Trump Administration official who ever worked for the president as traitors, which obviously calls into question–again using Trump’s reasoning–his ability to hire people.

Mick Mulvaney worked directly for Trump for 3 1/2 years, and over a year of that was as Chief of Staff. You can find innumerable clips of Trump praising Mulvaney. For God’s sake, he made him the #1 guy in the White House. And Mulvaney left as COVID ramped up, escaping the mess that Trump made with Fauci–whom he should have fired.

Instead, Trump still defends his own COVID performance while attacking DeSantis’, whose record is manifestly more freedom-oriented. Trump is proud of his record as the COVID president, which again is odd. During the 2020 campaign he actually used his relationship with Fauci as a talking point.

VIDEO: In an October 2020 ad by the Trump reelection campaign, Fauci endorses Trump’s moves to promote masks and shut down the country: “I can’t imagine that anybody could be doing more.” pic.twitter.com/83NsHOmktj https://t.co/nwYDtV5yxb

— Facts Nordau (@MaxNordau) April 20, 2023

VIDEO: President Trump attacks Gov. DeSantis’s handling of COVID in Florida.

"He didn't do well on COVID. He had more deaths than almost every country, in Florida. The thing he did well on was public relations because the numbers weren't what they pretended to be.” pic.twitter.com/uw34wHCPpU

— Facts Nordau (@MaxNordau) April 21, 2023

Trump has nothing nice to say about anybody who worked for him in the Administration. He hires them, praises them to the sky, and when he is done with them he calls them losers. John Bolton is a bad guy now, but not too long ago:

SUPERCUT: President Trump praises his advisor, John Bolton, whom he chose to hire pic.twitter.com/TZ7YSLztj8 https://t.co/9QllIlPsBz

— Facts Nordau (@MaxNordau) April 17, 2023

Oh well, whatever.

Getting back to the point: his lurch to the Left. His main line of attack on DeSantis is that he is too fiscally conservative, especially regarding entitlements. He also is too aligned with the Establishment, except that Trump endorsed everybody in the Establishment and even helped convince DeSantis to vote for Paul Ryan, whom he thought was too liberal. Trump was the Ryan guy, not DeSantis.

I like my presidents who are anti-RINO Paul Ryan… pic.twitter.com/kRnNgrxnj2

— TJ Roberts (@realTJRoberts) April 3, 2023

Now, though? His entire critique is based upon DeSantis being too conservative. DeSantis should leave Disney alone. DeSantis should kiss Budweiser’s ring because they contribute to Republicans. DeSantis is a threat to the welfare state.

It’s weird, and it’s hard to see how it works over the length of a campaign.

Matt Walsh’s political point is a good one: in 2016 Trump was able to win the nomination because he attacked all his opponents from the Right. He was clear, his message was robust, and there was nothing mealy-mouthed about him.

A lot of us weren’t sure he was a conservative, but he proved his bona fides as president. He did turn out to be a strong advocate for conservative causes. Now he seems to be promoting himself as more liberal than the other Republicans.

He embraces Dylan Mulvaney and Budweiser. He apparently thinks Disney should run a corporate kingdom and indoctrinate your kids. Disney and Budweiser have a lot of money, and we can get a cut appears to be his argument.

That’s a more difficult message to win votes from conservatives.

As for this issue, it is just absolutely insane to suggest that states should have the right to legalize the murder of fully developed infant children, which is what many blue states have done. If they go for infanticide next will that also be a “states rights” issue? Ridiculous

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 20, 2023

Trump’s campaign should have been focused on his accomplishments and his forward-looking vision. Instead, it has been about the 2020 election, which will win him no votes in 2024, and hating Ron DeSantis. Not too many Republicans agree with him on the latter.

Neither of those issues will win him new votes. Nor will promoting woke companies.

Trump’s “trump” card, of course, is the loyalty that he earned–and he did earn a lot of loyalty during his term–from people for whom he seemed to speak. Nobody else wanted to fight for them, and he did. That earns a lot from people, and I get it.

But look at what he is doing now. He is attacking Republicans from the Left, not the Right. Name an issue where his critique of DeSantis is from the Right. Other than calling him a RINO, that is, which is an insult, not an attack. Trump is to the Left of DeSantis on abortion, fiscal responsibility, and cultural issues. Where, exactly, is Trump to his Right? I don’t see it.

Name an issue where he is running as the more conservative candidate…I can’t. Maybe there is one.

But being the pro-woke, pro-abortion candidate is an odd choice for a Republican presidential candidate.