© Josh Sager – May 2016
With Ted Cruz and John Kasich dropping out of the GOP primary, it appears that Donald Trump will be the GOP’s presidential candidate for the 2016 race. While there is certainly a chance that the Republican power elite will try to steal the nomination at the convention (e.g. through unbinding delegates), I don’t think that this is likely.
A number of GOP establishment members have begun to fall in line behind Trump. For example, Reince Priebus, the head of the RNC, has already indicated his acceptance of Trump as the nominee and called the party to unify behind him for the general election fight. Several GOP politicians, including Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and John Huntsman, have announced their support for Trump now that he has swept the field. Even GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson is now publicly on-board for a Trump candidacy.
Let me be entirely frank on my opinion of Trump: Donald Trump is a racist, orange, proto-fascist ooma-loompa with a giant caterpillar glued to his head. Half of what he says is babbling nonsense and the other half sounds like it would be right at home on your average white supremacist internet message board. He has no idea how to run a nation or a company (ask the investors he screwed over during his four bankruptcies) and his only skills are leveraging his inherited fortune to dupe suckers and speaking to the very worst impulses of the American right.
If elected president, Trump would make us look fondly back at the days when Bush II was bumbling around the Middle East and helping Wall Street crash our economy—he would set the standard for presidential incompetence on domestic policy and could irreparably damage our nation’s standing on the international stage. To compound his incompetence, Trump’s racism could manifest in horrifying ways, including, but not limited to, Muslim “registries” or travel bans and a national “deportation force” to handle the “illegal problem” (I wonder if their uniform will have brown shirts?).
The fact that a racist simpleton like Trump is even considered a viable primary candidate for the nomination of a major American party is an international shame. Beyond that, the idea that he has a real chance to win the presidency should inspire fear in all rational people. Unfortunately, Donald Trump is simply a symptom of a much deeper series of problems. There is no lack of fools, racists and lunatics in any nation, but Trump’s success demonstrates that a large percentage of our voting population is willing to back such a lunatic and help him get into the most powerful office of the land. Even if Trump loses in 2016 (which is likely) the voters who propelled him to the nomination will remain a threat to sane governance in future elections.
Donald Trump’s primary win is an indictment of the mainstream media, our nation’s political establishment and the cultural values of large portions of our nation. These are the forces that have driven Trump to his position of power and must be addressed if we are to prevent any future Trumps from rising to power.
- The media has given Donald Trump approximately $2 billion in free media advertising during this primary cycle. This absolutely dwarfs the media given to any other candidate and allowed Trump to spread his message at minimum expense to his campaign. Additionally, the mainstream media refused to point out that Trump is a lunatic who is proposing non-factual and racist policies. They treated him as a credible candidate rather than a joke and the public followed along (if respected news outlets treat Trump like a serious candidate, who are they to disagree?). These actions by the media were driven by greed—Trump draws eyes to the primary coverage—and a desire to be seen as “neutral” rather than biased against individual candidates or ideas, even if those individuals/ideas are manifestly absurd.
- The political establishments of both parties have been corrupted by corporate money and refused to address the needs of the American people. In fact, a recent Princeton study has determined that the USA is now closer to a plutocracy than a democracy, as the policy preferences of the average American have been overridden by the preferences of the donor class (top .1%). Americans are angry that our government doesn’t represent us anymore and are lashing out by supporting populist anti-establishment candidates—sometimes this benefits politicians who are decent and would work to fix the system (Bernie) while in other cases, it leads large numbers of people to support proto-fascists like Trump (or Mussolini). In short, if the political establishment is not reformed to represent the voters, we will continue to see the rise of anti-establishment candidates, many of whom will resemble Trump.
- It is impossible to discuss the threat of Trump without looking at the cultural artifacts that helped fuel his rise. Racism, nativism, and xenophobia are rampant in his voter base, and not just in the south. White disaffection is a serious issue that must be addressed (e.g. through improving education and creating more opportunities for advancement for low-income individuals) if we want to stop the rise of nationalist and hate groups.
At the end of the day, I have serious problems with Hillary Clinton—namely her rejection of progressive policy ideas, connections to corporate money, hawkishness, and disingenuous attacks against Bernie Sanders—but will vote for her to avoid a Trump presidency. Trump is not an individual who we can risk in the presidency and his election would spell doom for numerous progressive priorities.
I have an idea that Trump would be really unhappy with attack ads that lampoon him by saying that even his own hair wants to run away from his racist ideals.
The Progressive Cynic 
I think your indictment of the press is right on.The press has covered this election like it is an entertainment TV reality show rather than a serious process to determine who will be the most powerful person on Earth. Trump is a “brand”, not a person. He has no substance, only appearance. He is all about creating ratings. Period.
No one, including Trump, has the slightest idea about how he would attempt to wield the power of the presidency.
If the American people are dumb enough to elect this tv personality it will shock the Stock Market. It will undermine all international treaties. It will open up the door to xenophobes and racists to be considered as mainstream Americans. The absolute triumph of plastic over substance. It reminds me somewhat of the Schwarzenegger debacle when people in California voted based on name recognition.
I just wonder what serious people in Europe or Asia or Africa must think of us.
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This looks too scripted for me – especially with all the “free” media coverage. We know the corporate-controlled media already is bias and scripted, so it only follows that they are “on-board” to have Trump elected President. Once in, or before the election, the economy will once again collapse (this time it will make 2008 look like a trial run, which it was) affording the pretext to declare martial law, suspend the constitution, excuse Congress, arrest Bernie Sanders and people like us, de-regulate the environment, eliminate all social programs, and effectively make Trump the first American Fascist Dictator. I think this is all a set-up that has been planned for years, and is about to be “executed.” Plato was right – democracy can lead to tyranny.
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I agree that Trump is a symptom rather than the problem. People blame him and his base when they should be blaming the corrupt establishment that disaffected people so much they voted for him simply because he campaigned on a promise of burning it down and he certainly exploits people’s fears and prejudices through his demagoguery. I have to disagree with you about the media. While its true their coverage has played a role in his popularity, I disagree that they haven’t held his feet to the fire. The media on both the left and the right has waged a nonstop war to discredit him rather than being a passive observer or unwitting advertiser as you portrayed it, and that only played into his hands. People rightfully hate the media almost if not just as much as they hate the political system, and seeing the entire media and the same corrupt system he’s campaigning against gang up on only made him look more like an underdog and crusader against the status quo. The more harsh the media is on him, the more it will drive up his popularity with his base, because the media has just as little credibility as the two party establishment does.
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I also find it a bit absurd to suggest the media shouldn’t be neutral (which they haven’t with him, he got more bias than any other candidate possibly in history with the mainstream media) The reason they cover him more is because he’s more newsworthy precisely because he is so absurd and yet so popular. Also, well they should be factual in pointing out the inaccuracies of his statements, journalistic objectivity should still be maintained and he should be treated like a serious candidate because like or not he is one. The media should report the facts not try and push narratives to mold public opinion. It is precisely that behavior that led to the rise of Trump because people saw right through it. The media is just as guilty if not more than the establishment in the rise of Trump, but not because of objectivity but a lack of it. (They have done the same thing with Bernie Sanders in favor of Hilary Clinton)
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I would suggest this about the media. Led by Fox and followed by CNN, NBC, etc. we have seen a 20 year plus narrative that “government is bad”. Pounded at people over and over. Government is corrupt. Government is bad. The narrative is aimed at achieving ratings, not investigating and objectively reporting the facts.
I reject the notion that government is “corrupt”. Yes, there are some corrupt people in government, just as there are corrupt people in business, industry, the military, education, you name it. But the narrative, pushed by the media for ratings, that the entire system is “corrupt” has no body of evidence to support it. Yes, you can point out to a few members of Congress. But Congress has 535 members. And you can point out to a few state legislators (like my state of NY), but there are 50 states and the overwhelming majority are not “corrupt”. They may have different opinions. They may believe in different philosophies. But that is not “corruption”.
We have always had a destructive element in the press in this nation, going all the way back to George Washington and his critics. Partisan political journals. But today that destructiveness has reached well beyond partisan politics. Rags like the NY Post or the National Enquirer used to be seen as silly and stupid entertainment. Now, we have people like Donald Trump quoting them as “sources”. My god.
Trump played into the “government is corrupt” narrative. People want to hear it. The press ratings thrive on it. The idea that there is some “plot” keeping me “down” is attractive to many. Despite the fact that they live in one of the safest, most prosperous nations on Earth. And in Trump’s case the reason the US is “down” is because of the “other”. Whether black or poor or Muslim or immigrant. It is the other. Trump ‘s persona sells . He drives up ratings. He is a master showman. A PT Barnum. He will say anything. In the age of press hostility to investigative journalism and in depth reporting, Trump is the perfect candidate.
Without the current press emphasis on ratings as opposed to facts Trump would be long gone as a potential candidate. I cannot imagine him surviving scrutiny for one hour during the campaigns when I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s.
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