Sunday, February 04, 2024

Trump may lose, but Trumpism lives on

Trump may lose this election, but his movement will continue to pose threats, including violence, maybe even greater than that of January 6, 2021

Trump may lose, but Trumpism lives on

Instead of demeaning or attacking Trump’s supporters, a concerted effort is needed to address the issues at the root of their insecurities and discontent.

Tuesday 30/01/2024

The Arab Weekly

5 days ago

Trump may lose, but Trumpism lives on | James J. Zogby | AW

Donald Trump’s decisive victory in the Iowa caucuses and commanding lead in upcoming primaries should put to rest fantasies of Republicans hopeful that their party can be rescued from his clutches.

These foes of the former president do not understand his hold over voters.

“Never Trumpers” and many establishment Democrats act as if the problem were just the man, that if only Trump could be beaten or shut down, all would be well.

Trump is a well-established problem, pathological narcissist, outlandish exaggerator and outright liar, fraud, misogynist, and inciter to violence. Yet, despite the best efforts of many to discredit or dislodge him, he has only grown stronger.
There are two major reasons for this failure.

First, those seeking to depose him ignore that his support is grounded in deep discontent predating his emergence on the national political stage.
Second, the attacks against Mr Trump emanate from the very institutions and individuals he has targeted, and have only reinforced his popularity with his supporters.

Trump is not the first demagogue to lead a right-wing populist movement.

Governor George Wallace’s 1970s segregationist American Independence Party,
the late 1980s Moral Majority/Christian Coalition movements,
Pat Buchanan’s 1988 “Pitchfork Brigade,” and
the anti-Obama Tea Party and “Birther” movements, these set the stage for Trump’s rise.

What spawned these movements was more than a half a century when many, mainly white, middle/working class Americans experienced social, political and cultural dislocations and an unsettling loss of control over their lives and futures.
The ‘60s and ‘70s were especially traumatic for many Americans with the emergence of three transformative movements that shook society, politics and culture:

the Black-led movement for civil rights;
the deeply divisive movements for and against the war in Vietnam and
a cultural revolution that upended accepted social mores.

In their wake, what then-President Richard Nixon called “the silent majority” reacted: incidents of overt racism or fear of racially-motivated violence, displays of hyper-patriotism or a loss of faith in the country, its institutions and professed values and a sense of being unmoored by radical social and cultural change.
For fifty years Americans reacted to these stressful changes with manifestations of racially-motivated fear of the “others,” hyper-patriotism or the romanticizing of America’s “great past,” and refuge in the embrace of fundamentalist religious beliefs. . .

By convincing his supporters that he alone understands their pain, fears and frustrations, and can defend them, an attack on him becomes an attack on them.

They cling to him for security and certainty.
Neither a rape conviction nor concurrent trials for financial fraud, incitement, mishandling and lying about illegal possession of secret government files will bring him down.

Trump may lose this election, but his movement will continue to pose threats, including violence, maybe even greater than that of January 6, 2021. Lawlessness and acts of bigotry cannot be tolerated. While punishment is required, simply defeating Trump and punishing him is not enough. Instead of demeaning or attacking Trump’s supporters, a concerted effort is needed to address the issues at the root of their insecurities and discontent. Finding constructive progressive solutions that demonstrate respect and concern will not happen overnight, but if efforts are not made in this direction, “Trumpism” will only fester and grow.

Ammon News

Trump may lose, but Trumpism lives on | View Points | Ammon News

Ammon also known as Ammon News is a private news agency and alternative news body based in Amman, Jordan. It is the first online newspaper in the country. The agency has both Arabic and English language websites. The name of the agency, Ammon, refers to ancient name of Amman, capital city of Jordan

Ammon News is a serious effort to build an alternative media outlet that gives a voice to the "silent majority" by allowing readers to obtain the news and to publicly post their reactions to local, regional and global developments in real time. It is an outlet for those who wish to express their opinions and become part of the decision-making process in their country, while adhering to professional ethics and conduct of fair and objective journalism.

With the launch of the English site of Ammon News, non-Arabic readers now also have the opportunity to engage in this interactive media forum and to make their views and reactions public. The English site contains translations of the news items posted on the Arabic site, as well as news, press releases, and opinion articles related to developments in Jordan and the region. The goal is to provide non-Arab audiences with a real, everyday perspective on the Jordanian and Arab "street," one that is void of interpretation and stereotype. The need to bridge understanding between the East and the West has never been greater and we hope that Ammon News can contribute to this mission.