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The escalator, the billionaire, the Mexican rapists. The explosion of Donald Trump’s entry into politics resonates to this day. It became the symbol of a presidency. To a pattern in which staging and provocation come first, the content in tow.
Escaping to your own camp is more important than ever. With the result that the counterpart is no longer seen as a political opponent, but as an enemy.
Political opponents see the latter as outrageous and damaging, clearly. The Republican orthodoxy that Trump pursues on issues such as taxes, weapons and health policy. Or when he rejected his party’s mainstream on immigration and trade policy.
But in the end, it’s always Trump’s overall package. A total package of style and content that provokes and excites so many people. Like a background noise, for some with the penetration of tinnitus. And since you can’t turn it off, they want to hear the counter program. Continually stronger. Escaping to your own camp is more important than ever. With the result that the counterpart is no longer seen as a political opponent, but as an enemy. It’s called polarization.
Donald Trump made his mark on American life far beyond politics. He mastered it almost at will, shaped the reports. And not infrequently his harsh style, his infidelity to the facts and the indignation about it have taken up more space than the content itself.
Satisfied …
At times, it could almost have been forgotten that the Trump administration was following a political agenda that the president wanted to implement more consistently than almost any previous promise, and it was.
Despite all the outrage against Trump, sometimes you can almost miss the fact that many of his 62 million voters are satisfied. Not all, of course. But by no means only those who are at the forefront of Trump’s demonstrations, blindly celebrating him as the messiah, as the guardian of his cultural and white values.
From a conservative and republican point of view, a lot has happened.
No, also millions of other Americans who simply and very legitimately find its content good: the war veteran, to whose trauma the state has paid very little attention. The anti-abortion opponent demanding conservative judges. The West Virginia chickadee, the Michigan craftsman, who for years did not feel taken seriously by politics. The top earners, the business lobby, the family business, all of whom are happy with less taxes and regulations. Evangelicals, who see religious freedoms under pressure, isolationists, American soldiers no longer want to see them scattered all over the world. And many and much more.
In short: from a conservative, republican point of view, a lot has happened.
… and disappointed
Of course, Donald Trump hasn’t accomplished much either. A few things should be mentioned here without claiming to be exhaustive: The jobs, prior to Covid-19, were not returning on a large scale from abroad to the industrialized countries of the Midwest. The economy was doing well, but Trump was not the best president of all time. Protective tariffs have not brought the Chinese to their knees. He couldn’t abolish Obamacare health insurance. The wall of Mexico is not close. Trump has raised billions and done many things, but not a penny comes from Mexico.
Additionally, President Trump repeatedly trampled on democratic institutions such as the courts and his own government agencies, was unprepared to condemn right-wing extremist violence, and is repeatedly open to conspiracy theories. All that is simply not right for the president of a democracy like the United States. And they are unmatched in the recent history of the country.
Covid-19 tested Donald Trump in every aspect, but mostly in terms of style and content.
Then came Covid-19. And the disease turned a country that was already politically shaken upside down. He tested Donald Trump in all aspects, but especially in terms of style and content. However, as strong as ever, it was no longer enough for many. With his style, how he presented himself in the crisis, he did not take it seriously, he ignored science and he was not willing to take responsibility. And in terms of content, what it did and did not do and contributed to the fact that the US has never managed to get the virus under control to this day.
Trump’s overall package, which had allowed his opponents to blow up the walls from day one, fell out of favor with more and more people. Simply because the crisis came closer to Trump than to anything else in three years. It made them sick, took relatives and friends, and revealed how helpless they are at the mercy of high hospital bills. Not to mention the financial failures. And Trump is also falling from grace because he has been on the electoral stage in recent days and claims that the pandemic has been overcome if new highs of corona infections are reported at the same time.
In the end, the electorate decides
This is not a swan song for Donald Trump and it is certainly not an election forecast. Rather, an observation of how a president’s style and politics can be reevaluated in a major crisis. And much more fundamental; how after four intense and noisy years some people crave a little less background noise and more peace. For their own reasons, others will legitimately choose the Donald Trump package again. As it should be in a democracy.
Peter Düggeli
USA-Correspondent, SRF
