Establishment Republicans would rather lose with honor and dignity than get their hands dirty and their noses bloodied in a street fight.

Politics ain’t beanbag, as the expression goes, except to genteel Republicans who prefer the wimp approach of giving a pleasant concession speech as opposed to taking the badass approach and punching back twice as hard when attacked.

Screenshot The Last Refuge // by permission

Greg Gutfield, one of the few remaining conservative voices on Fox News, made the case for Donald Trump on his recent show.

Watch or allow me to paraphrase:

When you are watching vintage Trump, you have to realize this is how he is going to be in meetings with people who are not friendly to the United States.

He is not a figurehead, he’s an agent, he’s your agent, he’s America’s lawyer. He’s in the room to represent his client, America. Your needs and your concerns. He’s supposed to be an asshole. He’s not interested in impressing the other people in the room.

I want an agent or a lawyer with that relentless energy that makes people upset. And the country needs that.

This guy is going to be that way in a room with people that have been screwing us over. You want the guy that nobody likes because they don’t like him for a reason.

Fortunately, I have never been through a divorce, sued anyone, nor been a criminal defendent. But if I did, I would want a lawyer who is tough, a badass, willing to fight tooth and nail for me the client. Not someone who puts up a civil and stately argument, while leaving his or her client on the losing end.

There is much hand-wringing and pearl-clutching among the Republican smart set over Trump’s demeanor, his mean tweets and name-calling, his eagerness to fight on the same scorched earth playing field as do Democrats.

Trump gives his opponents nicknames. It’s branding and he is a master of that due to his New York City upbringing and years in the business and reality television world. And it works. Just ask Low Energy Jeb, Little Marco, or Crooked Hillary.

But to the Wall Street Journal, National Review, and many on Fox News, this behavior is abhorrent. Were they upset with nicknames like “Bushitler”? Or Paul Ryan pushing granny in a wheelchair off a cliff? Or Mitt Romney supposedly not paying any taxes, killing his employees, and torturing his dog?

Are elected Republicans fighting a weaponized administrative state that accused Trump of colluding with the Russians to steal the 2016 election? Or 51 intelligence officials lying through their teeth about Hunter Biden’s laptop? Or the lawfare used against Trump? Or the credible allegations of election fraud?

No fight, only a few Congressional hearings and strongly worded tweets.

Meanwhile the American people are getting screwed. Most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. American veterans are living in squalor on the streets while illegal aliens are living in luxury hotels, receiving food, healthcare, education, and other services that many hardworking Americans cannot afford.

Who is fighting for them?

Democrats instead are advocating for male athletes competing against women, tampons in boys’ bathrooms, and unlimited abortion of full-term babies. World War III is brewing with American young adults potentially drafted to fight and defend the borders of Israel, Ukraine, or Taiwan, while our border is left wide open.

Who are our advocates? Word-salad Kamala and Tampon Tim? Or the mean loudmouth with orange hair?

America is in decline, economically, socially, and culturally. Who will fight to stop or at least slow the decline? Reversing things is a tall order, even for Trump, given the forces marshalled against him – media, Hollywood, academia, Wall Street, much of his own party, and the fourth branch of government, the administrative state or ruling class.

Trump is willing to fight, unlike most elected Republicans and surrogates. Which is why Trump remains popular to this day, despite the fierce opposition, including a recent assassination attempt.

Do Trump supporters want to marry him? Live with him? Vacation with him? Be his valentine? No, they want an advocate, someone willing to roll up his sleeves and fight for them.

Trump isn’t the cause of this anti-establishment movement, instead he is the result of it. The Tea Party arose due to feckless Republican leadership under George W. Bush ushering in the reign of Barack Obama.

Trump and MAGA was the result of Republicans genuflecting to Obama, offering no pushback to his “fundamental transformation of America” which continues to this day.

Who is America’s advocate? Who is fighting for the Constitution, the rule of law? Who wants America first rather than America last?

The American people have little voice. We elect representatives to be our advocates. They talk a good game as candidates, but few follow through on those promises once in office. They may be nice and polite, but save that for the country club pool party, not the rough and tumble world of U.S. and global leadership.

Republican primary voters made their choice. Overwhelmingly. They chose, as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg described him, “a badass.” Trump’s policies and accomplishments are the best since Reagan. It’s not about worshiping Trump but instead about results and making America great again.

As Trump described in a 2016 campaign rally,

Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People. There is nothing the political establishment will not do, and no lie they will not tell, to hold on to their prestige and power at your expense.

As Gutfield said, Trump is America’s advocate, its pitbull lawyer. So what if he can be an asshole at times? You’re not marrying the guy.

When it comes to your trial lawyer, your surgeon, or your president, you want the person who will fight like hell for your case, your life, or your country. So what if he’s full of himself and can at times be a jerk.

Better that than being left with a guilty verdict or in the morgue. It’s time to separate personality from performance.

When negotiating with Putin, Xi, or any other world leader, I don’t want Mr. Nice Guy representing me if he gets rolled by badass foreign leaders. I want a tough guy on my side, one our opponents fear. Out of fear comes respect. Whether they like my guy or not doesn’t matter.

When losing is not an option, we don’t want excuses, platitudes, and congenial words. We want a fighter.

As Dan Bongino likes to say, “Cutesy time is over.” Bring on the badass!

Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a physician and writer. Follow me on Twitter @retinaldoctor, Substack Dr. Brian’s Substack, Truth Social @BrianJoondeph, and LinkedIn @Brian Joondeph.