Perhaps like me, you read The Outsiders in school. I thought it was a fantastic book and a pretty good movie as well.
Pretty star-studded cast when you look back at it, huh? I often used it as a reference in television interviews back in 2016, when I worked on Donald Trump’s first campaign.
At the time, our America First movement made us very much "The Outsiders"; the political "greasers" fighting against the political "socs" of the establishment in Washington D.C. Socs from both parties.
If we’re being honest, very little separates Republican politicians like Nikki Haley from Democrats like Dick Durbin.
My regular use of the phrase "Stay gold, Trump" even earned the ire of S.E. Hinton, the author of the book. She actually threatened on social media to sue me!
Her hatred of Trump, like a lot of lefties, made her blind to the reality of the First Amendment, and my right to my own interpretation of her book.
Here we are, five years later, and we’re still The Outsiders. Don’t get me wrong, we had a fantastic four years in the White House.
Our movement accomplished a lot, and quickly.
We exited what previously seemed like endless wars.
Trump built the best economy for American workers in a generation, before the CCP virus set us back.
And we changed the entire paradigm of how this country confronts China, and global trade in general.
But, just like in another great movie, the “Empire” did strike back. Congress, the administrative state, and a complicit, corrupt media stymied the efforts of Trump to bring about lasting change in Washington.
That’s the bad news, but here’s the good news -actually, the great news.
This cause, this movement of populist American nationalism, is still very young.
In the arc of the American experience, we’re just getting started. And now, a new generation of political leaders is emerging, firm in their mindset to achieve the three overarching goals of the America First movement: sovereignty, economic nationalism, and the diffusion of power.
These young bucks are truly The Outsiders, because they do not come from politics.
Instead, they were incredible achievers in business and in the military, and they now bring those life lessons and skills to the arena of politics.
Who are these New Outsiders?
They include Sean Parnell in Pennsylvania, JD Vance in Ohio, Joe Kent in the state of Washington, and the newest announced candidate: Blake Masters in Arizona.
He’s a native of Tucson, attended Stanford, and excelled as an attorney and venture capitalist. But unlike most people with such credentials, Blake does not subscribe to the ideology of the Davos set.
Instead, he speaks powerfully about America’s uniqueness, and believes deeply in the need to reclaim our sovereignty, especially at the southern border, near his own home.
He also speaks to an issue that I am passionate about, restoring to middle class families the option to once again live comfortably on a single income, which was once the norm in America.
It can be again, with the right policies.
Steve Cortes, a former Trump presidential advisor, commentator, and financial expert, co-hosts "Cortes & Pellegrino" on Newsmax.
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