Jerusalem is why Trump's in the White House

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Erick Erickson: Jerusalem is why Trump's in the White House

The president is holding politicians accountable for their promises.

The capital of Israel is Jerusalem. Ask American politicians of either party and they will tell you that. Check the platform documents of the two major political parties and you will read that. Check with Congress and you will find a bipartisan resolution that passed declaring Jerusalem the eternal capital of Israel.

So it is fitting that President Trump would announce plans Wednesday to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and publicly refer to Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. After all, the political parties believe that, every major presidential candidate in the past few decades has said that, and Congress has declared it in bipartisan form.

Unfortunately, President Trump is committing the most grievance “sin” any politician in Washington can commit. He is walking the walk instead of just talking the talk. This is the behavior that is responsible for his election.

For decades, it has been perfectly convenient for politicians of both parties to fundraise in Jewish and Christian evangelical communities, declaring their support for Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

This may be the first time in American history that a president is being attacked for keeping a promise made by the politicians who are attacking him.

It has been a great fundraising ploy to pledge support for moving the American embassy to Jerusalem. But few of the politicians have ever meant it. They could boldly claim to American audiences what they wanted to hear – while privately winking at Palestinians and others who were in on the joke.

President Trump, though, is not joking. So now some of the very same American politicians who have for years supported Jerusalem as Israel’s capital when addressing American audiences are now savaging the president for doing what they’ve long claimed they wanted.

This is all an exercise in mendacity that President Trump has no time for. He pledged to do something and he is going to do it.

This may be the first time in American history that a president is being attacked for keeping a promise made by the politicians who are attacking him.

Sadly, time and time again we see this even within the Republican Party. From calls for repealing ObamaCare to claims of being staunchly pro-life, the GOP has kept ObamaCare alive and fully operational and has kept funding Planned Parenthood.

The American people have become deeply cynical about American politics and deeply skeptical of political promises.

They took a radical chance by voting for Donald Trump and, where he can, they are seeing him keep promises other politicians made and never kept.

The reaction of Washington’s elite will only prove to Americans that the voters were right all along about the liars inside the Beltway.

That, in turn, will probably help re-elect the president in 2020