Here are 10 takeaways from Donald Trump’s barnstorming election victory this week.
First, populism. It’s here to stay. It’s even got a monument, called Great Britain after Brexit. The Europe it left in a huff is being buffetted by the populist hurricane. Italy’s already got its populist pin-up in Giorgia Meloni — solidly working class, a pedigree enhanced by her dad’s communist leanings. Germany and France have their equivalents, also distrustful of the neoliberal project that is the EU. In the US, populism takes an exaggeratedly ignorant form. Science is the new enemy, its place taken by that which is manifestly true to one of boundless ignorance, gullibility and little instinct for rational inquiry.
Second, incumbency. It’s a hard-sell. Trying to popularise an agenda of continuity amid the howls of populist derision is thankless. Ask the 40% ANC. The fact that the American economy, on a macro level at least, is the world’s best-performing made no difference. The populist can make promise without regard to cost, and extravagantly too, while the incumbent is limited by a little thing called reality, and can but offer a pallid alternative to the garish come-ons of the populist i(cons).
Third, media. We got it wrong again. Maybe it’s because so many of us are drawn from the polite elite class, we find it difficult to engage those we consider social and intellectual inferiors. Left and soft-left stances have become the go-to for academia and media, sacrificing inquiry for virtue-signalling. Last time Trump won, the New York Times apologised for having “missed the story”. This time around we were told it was neck and neck. Come November 6, though, the scale of the pummeling was clear. Social media has spawned millions of commentators and reporters, leaving the conventional media to report a story, but often not the real story.
Fourth, grievance. An essential in any populist’s toolbox. Closely related to the conspiracy narrative that underpins the populist zeitgeist is the idea that a wrong needs to be set right. It propelled Adolf Hitler to power, it’s why Boris Johnson pulled off Brexit and it is at the heart (not bleeding) of Trump’s MAGA philosophy. Make America Great Again, save it from media liberals, Deep State globalists, climate change scientists and so on. All are enemies of good ol’ boy US of A.
Fifth, morality. What’s that? Liberalism has its fair share of hypocrisy, both in its policies and the practices of those who claim a higher self-worth in their clamour to rule us. But populists reject morality. Racism, sexism, bullying, sneering, emphasising difference to selfish advantage: this is populism. Much is done in the name of free speech. So we are urged by Trump’s Yale-educated hillbilly, JD Vance, to “lighten up”. Similarly, the supporters of populism look past the supposed sins of their would-be leaders, seeing them even as a badge of honour. Again, think Zuma, and the ANC’s amateurish attempts to “shame’’ him before the May elections.
Sixth, the progressive agenda. RIP wokeism. Kamala Harris made a special appeal to women voters, attacking the US Supreme Court ruling striking down the Roe v Wade legal precedent that allowed for a liberal abortion regime. Yet women refrained from voting for her in the tens of thousands, quite possibly because they were mostly thinking about having to feed families amid a rising cost of living and no social safety net. In South Africa, it is considered polite to have warm and fuzzy feelings towards African migrants, which is at variance with the perceived experience of ordinary men and women who see foreigners thriving among them, setting up a harvest of resentment in a sea of generalised poverty.
Call it xenophobia if you like, but it illustrates the gulf between polite politics and its gutter replacement
Call it xenophobia if you like, but it illustrates the gulf between polite politics and its gutter replacement.
Seventh, political snobbery. It’s a class thing. Democrats relied largely on the power of social media (as opposed to door-to-door) and the lure of morally dubious celebrities to imagine a mass movement. Packing thousands in to see Jennifer Lopez proves, if that was needed, that she is a drawcard. Being on first-name terms with her only exaggerates your elite status, making you abominable to the populist.
Eight, detail is death. No-one reads fine print. Trump promised to deport millions of Latin Americans. Will he? Millions? Who cares, when his heart is in the right place? Build a wall? Of course, though in his last presidency he completed just 83km of it. It’s the bluster that counts.
Nine, friend of the workers. Whether right or left, don’t forget the proletariat. Hillary Clinton called them the “deplorables”, Joe Biden said they’re “garbage”. Trump and his super-rich cronies like Elon Musk insist they’re the friend of the working man, woman, Latino, African-American. The Democrats approach the workers as if they’re objects in an entomological study. Trump tells an off-colour joke, which is why workers trust him.
Ten, it’s show business. Entertainment is essential. At one rally, Trump rolled out his Mar-a-Lago after-dinner playlist, dad-dancing on the stage for a full half-hour. What would he be without The Apprentice? Expect many more to take the celebrity reality TV path to power. If necessary, use reality TV as rehearsal for resisting an invasion from Russia, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy did to stunning effect in Ukraine. If you don’t get a Nobel Peace Prize, you might still win an Emmy.
So, lights, camera, action as an old-time matinee idol plays himself in a remake of a film about ... himself. Obviously.
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