Donald Trump has been out of office for six weeks now. It is such a relief not to have to think about him all the time. But before he becomes too much of a distant memory, hopefully for good, I want to look back on his first (and hopefully his only) four years in office as US president, as I did with Obama.
Jemele Hill put it well:
“I wish I could say I feel happy, but I don’t. Relief, yes. But the wreckage from these last four years is substantial. The democracy is not fixed. White supremacy isn’t taking a break. This is a baby step, but the ugliness Donald Trump seized upon will intensify.”
In October I predicted Trump would still be in power at this point. I was right that he would try to hang onto power by hook or crook, but I underestimated his incompetence. So, yes, I am relieved.
But Trump is down, not out. The Republican Party remains firmly behind him. Despite losing the White House and the Senate. Despite making the Pandemic of 2020 way worse than it had to be, killing more Americans than a world war. Despite his coup attempt on January 6th, the Capitol riot. Despite paying off porn stars and setting up concentration camps and all that.
Cult of personality: There seems to be no line Trump can cross, no norm he can break, that would shake them. Their loyalty to him is dangerously cult-like. They have become unhinged from reality. I hate to say that, but that seems to be the truth. It cannot help but damage the US. It already has – from the poor response to the pandemic to the poor response to global warming. And it is on course to get worse:
2042 and all that: In about 2042 non-Hispanics Whites will become a minority in the US. That is no longer in the distant future: the 2040s are now closer than the 1990s. This places White Americans at a crossroads: do they believe in democracy or do they believe in White rule? For the first 250 years they have been able to have it both ways. No longer. So, will the US move towards the promise of 1776 or will it descend into years and years of right-wing terrorism, if not outright fascism? Time will tell.
It does not look good: 58% of Whites voted for Trump in November, the same as four years ago – and they seem to be sticking with him. He won Whites across the board: man and woman, young and old, rich and poor, Protestant and Catholic, North and South (but not West), rural and suburban (but not urban), and at all levels of education up to and including four years of college (but not more advanced education). And that was after four years of the Trump Era. They liked it! They want more! On top of that, Republicans in 43 states are now pushing for yet more voter suppression laws.
– Abagond, 2021.
See also:
- Obama retrospective
- Donald Trump
- Southern strategy / Republican bubble
- The Trump Era – written the day after the 2016 election
- concentration camp
- The US Capitol riot
- predictions:
- Predictions for the 2020 US election – made on October 29th
- The future of race in the US – from 2015 to 2100
- Jemele Hill
- Ur-Fascism
- Autocracy: Rules for Survival
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Part of Trump’s delusion about his loss was that he increased his votes from 2016 to 2020. Down ticket candidates did even better as people voted for Biden and the Republican. That is how the GOP gained seats in the House and held on to all but three of their Senates seats.
I think a number of the GOP cannot deny his ability to draw people to come to the polls. So they ride his coattails hoping he expands the base. Nevermind WHO these voters are. And what they want them to do. (Blow up the establishment which is the traditional GOP.)
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He still has influence over the Republican Party. He still has the MAGA and Conservatives. The CPAC was a perfect example that Trump still has a hold on them. They even made a ugly gold statue in his image. He keeps threatening to come back in 2024.
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