I’m a ‘Globalist’ and I Support Donald Trump

I support Donald Trump — not a remarkable statement, considering I am a Republican voter and he is the party’s likely nominee. I’m critical of Trump, more so than previous nominees, but I think some of his supposed drawbacks are actually benefits.

His disdain for political correctness, for example, is both timely and necessary; his call for unpredictability in foreign policy is the one way to regain our strategic advantage.

I am, however, a “globalist” — and “globalists,” we are told, dislike Trump.

What is a “globalist”? In my mind, it is someone who favors free trade; the free movement of people — legal, and legally — in and among nations; and most of all the free exchange of ideas.

My family is an immigrant family; I have relatives and ties all over the world. My parents chose America because they wanted to raise children in a free country, where people of different races were treated equally before the law. I grew up in a diverse town and believe America should remain open to the world.

Those who attack “globalists” seem to have something else in mind. Perhaps, to them, a “globalist” is someone who puts the interests of multilateral institutions and corporations ahead of their country and compatriots. OK.

Perhaps a “globalist” is someone who is prepared to offer amnesty to illegal aliens and to compromise national sovereignty. OK.

But perhaps, to a benighted few out there, “globalist” means something like what Stalin meant by “cosmopolitan,” i.e. “Jew.” Not OK.

In any case, it is certainly possible for “globalists” like me to support Trump — just as there were libertarians who supported Brexit. Sovereignty and self-determination do not mean cutting ourselves off from the world. On the contrary, if we control our own borders and policies better, we may have closer, more authentic and more productive relations with other countries.

Meanwhile, better to be specific about what we mean by “globalist,” lest the term take on the left’s antisemitic baggage.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, will be published by Regnery on July 25 and is available for pre-order through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.