Donald Trump Became What He Hated
- Fred
- Jan 18
- 4 min read
Co-Founder of Beacon of Speech Ted and I used to work together at the magical Iron Mountain.
What was our favorite thing to do at work?
I think Ted and I agreed that it was listening to the radio. Now I enjoyed Sports Talk on some days, and random music on others, while Ted would listen to mostly News Talk sprinkled in with Classic Rock. But both of us tended to start off our mornings with Howard Stern.
Do either of us listen to Howard Stern today? Oh, absolutely not. Howard Stern used to portray himself as an everyman fighting the corporate system. Now he's what's left of the corporate system, lamenting cold coffee and those on the opposite side of the political spectrum.
Stern's singular act that angered Ted the most was when he didn't come out of his house for 2.5 years because he was afraid of the world. Howard Stern was almost the last man in America to go back to the office after Covid. As noted in other articles, Ted was back to the office about a day and a half after the Covid shutdowns, I didn't go back to work until after my kidney stone surgery.
Ted's very valid question: "Stern claimed he was a germaphobe, but wasn't that the same guy that had girls in bikinis vomit on his guests in his studio? " Yes, it is.
And that's not just our opinions, Stern's extensive audience has eroded from an estimated 20 million to around 200,000. Ted and I are some of his 19.8 million former listeners.
But I digress. The point is, the Howard Stern of 1994 would HATE the Howard Stern of 2026, whining about his first world problems.
Why is that? Because a generation ago, Howard Stern had Donald Trump on his radio show dozens of times. I could legitimately argue that all the exposure Stern gave to Trump helped him land the Apprentice, then eventually, helped get him elected. Did Stern care about Trump's political positions in the year 2000? Nope, he just cared about entertaining his audience and signing that next big radio contract. I remember Trump talking about being an independent thinker, wanting to be President 30 years ago on the airwaves.
Actually, Donald Trump has talked about being the president as long as he's had a public forum...
The core of Donald Trump's persona, when he was running under the Republican banner, was that he wasn't a politician, he was a businessman who claimed to be America First. He was going to run America like a business and drain the swamp. But as every month goes by in his second term, it is becoming more and more apparent that Trump didn't change Washington, Washington changed Trump.
Regime change in Venezuela? Sounds like Bush/Cheney.
Red Flag laws? Sounds like Clinton/Gore
Tariffs? Sounds like Biden/Harris
Epstein Files? Except for Obama, just about every other politician are in those, too.
Trump worries more and more about the Republican Party heeding his words, he wants to be like the GOP version of Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi's Gift? Keeping her party in line.
The point is, the Donald Trump of 2000, sitting in that Stern Show Studio, would HATE the Donald Trump of 2026.
Invading Greenland? That was not on the platform of the Reform Party back in their short Trump Era 1999-2000. Trump's Populism is swiftly evolving into party-line politics. You remember the Reform Party? They stressed America's Financial Responsibility.
You can look up Trump's Financial Platform from 2000, it was easily found online:
The Federal government shall be managed within its means, and will not continually run budget deficits.
Pass a Balanced Budget Amendment.
Pay down the Federal Debt until the principal balance is zero and American taxpayers no longer have to pay interest on the debt.
Use any budget surpluses generated to pay down the debt, they should not be used to fund tax reductions nor to fund new programs.
Eliminate programs that are wasteful, outdated or that do not serve an important national goal.
End corporate welfare and special interest subsidies.
Manage mandatory spending programs and government-sponsored enterprises so that they are self-funding.
Review all programs on a regular basis and always make trust fund reports.
Remove all trust fund balances from the budget deficit calculations, so that the true size of the federal deficit is made clear to the American people.
I mean, reading that, is almost comical. The highest national debt in history? Right now. The DOGE cut some programs Trump/Musk didn't like, then Trump added money to programs he did like (for a net gain of zero, if not worse.)
Do you know who else notoriously flip-flops positions?
Politicians.
Listen, we don't irrationally hate Trump here at Beacon of Speech. We have been remarkably consistent since the start of the blog in 2016. Donald Trump doesn't care about you, Donald Trump doesn't care about me, Donald Trump only cares about Donald Trump. Your place in the world is based on whether you like, or dislike, him. We only either like, or dislike, his policies.
But it absolutely has to be maddening to be a Trump-Hater right now. He flip-flops so much, at one time, either now or in the past, you agreed with Donald Trump's policies.
When you say you hate Donald Trump, do you mean the new, second-term version of Trump, the Cheney Republican? Or the American-First version of Trump, from like, 2 years ago? Or the pro-choice, Liberal-leaning Trump of 2011? Don't forget the Populist or Reform versions of Trump mentioned from the turn of the millennium.
And I would be remiss if I didn't remind you that Donald Trump is 79 years old.
I understand young men altering their beliefs based on life-experiences, but Donald Trump has believed in basically every popular American Political position.... SINCE HE TURNED 50.
Ted's Dream is to have Donald Trump on our BOS Webcast. Back in 2016, I told him that would never happen, it was impossible.
Today I am convinced that if we paid Trump a wheelbarrow full of money and sent over favorable, softball-type questions for his team to review in advance, Trump would actually show up.
Ted wants to know where we can get a wheelbarrow full of money.
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