“Thoughtful, Focused and Conversant”: Derek Tran Receives Orange Country Register Endorsement

The outlet praised Tran’s “poise, knowledge and forthrightness” on the issues that matter most, “[speaking] out forcefully” against reckless immigration enforcement, cost-hiking tariffs, the climbing national debt, and the war-of-choice in Iran. 

The reviews were not so kind for Tran’s challenger, Chuong Vo, who the outlet called “a rubber stamp” who “would largely support Trump administration policies without pushing back.” When pressed on the issues that matter most in Orange County, “Vo either retreated to slogans or ignorance” and on deeply unpopular policies – like support for the war in Iran, “gave no indication he’d vote to end [it].”

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Orange County Register: Endorsement: Re-elect Derek Tran in the 45th congressional district

• …We found [Tran] thoughtful, focused and conversant in the key issues. He spoke out forcefully about matters that concern us, including ICE’s abusive practices. He also blasted Congress’ unsustainable deficit spending, the administration’s incoherent foreign policy, the foolhardy nature of Trump’s tariff policies, and the president’s costly war of choice in Iran.
• The son of Vietnamese refugees, he also told us of his…effort to get the Republican-controlled House to include a note on Vietnam in its annual resolution denouncing socialism. 
• “As a Member of Congress, I have been unafraid to stand against communist and socialist governments that flagrantly violate human rights,” he said after the latest rejection. “I’ve pressured the Trump Administration to demand the release of prisoners of conscience, including Le Huu Minh Tuan. And I have fought to uplift the stories of the Vietnamese diaspora so that the communist regime cannot erase its atrocities.”
• Tran suspects it might have something to do with the Trump Organization’s $1.5 billion resort deal in Vietnam. These days, you never know.
• When we talked about the debt and the state of entitlements, he didn’t take the “let’s just cut waste” dodge. He recognized the depth of the problem and called for a commission to propose solutions to Social Security’s potential insolvency. We appreciated his poise, knowledge and forthrightness.
• …The challenge for [Chuong] Vo is in going beyond the slogans and applying classic conservative principles in the shadow of the Trump administration. 
• On key matters…Vo either retreated to slogans or ignorance. In the face of a $40 trillion national debt, a $2 trillion annual deficit and looming entitlement cliffs, Vo insists “waste, fraud and abuse” is the key, which is an answer that sounds like an answer but isn’t an answer since it lacks any specifics. 
• When asked what he thought about the president floating a $1.5 trillion defense budget, he replied, “I don’t want to say I wouldn’t support it or I would support it without knowing [more].” 
• Likewise, when asked about the Iran war, he at times rationalized the war – arguing that Iran would be a danger to the world if it had nuclear weapons – but also declined to elaborate on whether the president was justified in unilaterally launching the war without congressional approval. 
• While some caution is understandable, Vo is running for a seat in the branch of government with the constitutional power to declare war and control the purse strings. But he gave no indication he’d vote to end the war.
• Vo isn’t particularly doctrinaire, but came across as someone who would largely support Trump administration policies without pushing back very much. A rubber stamp, in other words, much like all but a handful of Republicans in Congress.
• …Tran has earned another term, especially at a time when the Trump administration’s policies are disrupting the economy, dragging the United States into endless conflicts and wrecking the constitutional order.

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