Donald J. Trump continues to command nationwide polls for the Republican presidential nomination. A few candidates, however, have managed to detract support from his campaign. Ron Desantis, for example, has captured 14% of the vote, compared to Mr. Trump’s 57%, according to FiveThirtyEight’s national average poll tracker. Other Republican candidates are trailing even further behind, though, begging an important question: Why are they still running?

For Ryan Binkley, a Texas businessman and pastor, this campaign is all about repairing our country economically and healing it culturally. As the lead pastor of Create Church, a multiethnic, multigenerational church, and CEO of the Generational Group, an advisory company for business owners throughout North America, Mr. Binkley believes he brings a unique perspective to the political field. He joined the race for the nomination in April, adding presidential candidacy to his already substantial resume.

In an interview with Eastside Online, Mr. Binkley explained his vision for a unified America with reduced inflation, a more diplomatic approach to foreign affairs, and stronger borders. His policies are aimed at creating more opportunities for young people — a demographic he claims his policies will support. Mr. Binkley wants to make sure that young Americans can enjoy a financially healthy and potent country, like he did growing up.

“I was able to buy a house in my mid to late 20s, and I was able to start a career and a job… Those are very big places of uncertainty for young people today,” said Mr. Binkley, pointing to inflation as a major reason for the economic strife Americans are currently feeling.

Yet Mr. Binkley believes it’s not just the housing and career markets buckling from inflation. “Healthcare inflation is higher than regular inflation, and in some cases, 40%… Healthcare costs have just gone up… So we’ve got a big problem with it,” said Mr. Binkley.

Fortunately, Mr. Binkley has a number of proposals to tackle inflation in the healthcare industry. He wants to use his presidential authority to revoke laws restricting insurance companies from competing across state lines and prevent subsidies from going to pharmaceutical companies. Mr. Binkley believes these measures will help spur the competition needed within the industry to lower medical costs and weaken healthcare monopolies.

Mr. Binkley also possesses a firm idea for policy in the international domain. Mr. Binkley claims that “Russia is not paying attention to us. Neither is China.”

Regarding how he would address this issue, he has cited Republican icon Ronald Reagan as an example to follow.

“Ronald Reagan led us to a great place and actually led us to a place of peace… we need to be able to be strong financially, to invest in a good defense, and to be able to lead well again,” said Mr. Binkley.

By bolstering the American economy, Mr. Binkley hopes to out-compete China, which he believes is extending its influence around the world via financial investments and trade deals. He additionally believes that sitting down with Russia’s President Putin would give him the chance to show that the invasion of Ukraine could come to a peaceful conclusion. Mr. Binkley re-emphasized that through internal unity and economic prosperity, the United States could reflect strength, peace and prosperity across the world.

Refocusing back home, Mr. Binkley told Eastside about one of his more potentially controversial policies: further implementing a Southern border wall similar to the one former President Donald Trump frequently advocated for.

“Well, first of all, you know, to justify the cost is 100,000 lives a year, I think that’s worth $30 billion,” said Mr. Binkley, when asked to justify the cost of further developing the wall on the Southern border.

Mr. Binkley proposed fining and taxing undocumented immigrants who have held residency in the United States for over a decade, which he believes will help cover the cost of finishing construction of a Southern Border wall in 10 to 12 years.

“It’s a new income stream based on people that are already here that are just sending their money back home to Latin America and other nations. Now they can actually pay some taxes here. They don’t get federal benefits. But they do have the ability to live here legally and work here if we want them here,” said Mr. Binkley.

As part of a broader program aimed at border security, Mr. Binkley also discussed plans to enact the deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants and allow them to eventually return back to America through legal means.

“A lot of people, millions of people that have come here in the last five years, underneath our plan would need to go back home and reapply the right way. They need to come in through the front door, not the back door,” said Mr. Binkley.

Ultimately, the attempt to dethrone former President Trump from his pole position in the Republican primary polls may seem like an uphill battle to many. But to candidate Ryan Binkley, his background and perspective has led him to believe that he can lead the Republican Party to victory in 2024.

This story was originally published on Eastside on October 23, 2023.