Opinion: Why I’m scared of Donald Trump’s campaign

With the news of Donald Trump becoming the presumptive nominee of the Republican party, a wave of disbelief and discomfort has, understandably, come over many Americans. I am both proud, and somewhat afraid, to say that I am one of those Americans. Mr. Trump’s rhetoric and often hate-filled speech has uncovered some of the most ugly parts of our nation. Mr. Trump has rallied the so called “silent majority;” Those who share the regressive and often culturally shunned views of Mr. Trump. Now, I am a firm believer in the first amendment to the constitution and I would not advocate for any revocation of the rights of Mr. Trump or his supporters. However, there is something quite alarming about them: They don’t seem to care about facts. Since his campaign launched in June of 2015, Mr. Trump’s numbers in the polls have been rising, as he has constantly told us. This comes as no surprise given his populist message which resonates with “middle America,” or to use the words of Sarah Palin, “Real America.” What is surprising, however, is the fact that his numbers keep rising.

Mr. Trump, in his announcement of his intention to run for the presidency, talked bluntly about immigration and his now infamous “plan” (I use that term extremely loosely) to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico. “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists” Mr. Trump said of Mexican immigrants. He continued, “And some, I suppose, are good people.” Any sensible person recognizes that Mr. Trump’s statements are erroneously false. At best, they are gross over-simplifications. Traditionally, these types of comments hurt presidential candidates. In the 2012 presidential election for example, Mitt Romney’s infamous “47 percent” comments certainly damaged his chances of winning the presidency against incumbent Barack Obama. However, Mr. Trump’s campaign has been anything but traditional. Mr. Trump frequently makes comments and proposals similar to those in his campaign announcement speech. The man has insulted, to some degree, pretty much every minority. Whether it be towards women, Latinos, Asians, or “the blacks,” Mr. Trump has a knack for being extremely offensive and often uses factually incorrect information while doing so. However, it seems as if this knack has indeed propelled him to the nomination.

Mr. Trump’s supporters don’t care how ridiculous those of us on left think him and his proposals are. Whenever Mr. Trump announced his plan to ban all muslims from entering the united states in December of 2015 many people, including myself, thought that his campaign would surely be over. I distinctly remember White House press secretary Josh Earnest saying that Mr. Trump would be swept into the “dustbin of history” because of his comments. However, those on the so-called “Trump train” are the reason why Mr. Trump is standing tall as the presumptive Republican nominee, and not in the dustbin of history.

Mr. Trump’s supporters don’t seem to be deterred by anything he says. One South Carolina exit poll showed that 75% of Republican voters agreed with his plan to ban all muslims from entering the United States. This shows, clearly, the lack of understanding that many of Mr. Trump’s supporters have when it comes to terrorism, foreign policy, and the world in general. This lack of understanding has allowed Mr. Trump and his campaign to thrive. In his exclamatory Nevada victory speech , Mr. Trump said that he “love[s] the poorly educated!” It comes as no surprise that this is true. As stated before, any sensible person realizes that both Mr. Trump and his flagrant right-wing rhetoric are ludicrous. However, “sensible” likely is not the best word to describe the supporters of Mr. Trump, and he knows this. In other words, he needs the “poorly educated.” In January of 2016, Mr. Trump touted the loyalty of his supporters, saying: “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody,” as he makes a gesture with his hand which seems to emulate a gun, “and I wouldn’t lose voters.” What scares me is the fact that Mr. Trump is absolutely correct in this assertion.

Trump, alone, isn’t particularly dangerous. Think about it; What’s so scary about a little orange guy with tiny hands and (extremely) regressive opinions? Not much, right? There’s only so much that one person can do. The problem is that he isn’t just one person. Trump has awakened a part of America which is quite scary; the part of America that agrees with him. As a Bernie Sanders supporter, I have found myself romanticizing Sen. Sanders’ term of a “political revolution.” As it turns out, Trump has a political revolution of his own. People apart of this revolution are loyal to Mr. Trump and his agenda, which is dangerous. Mr. Trump has absolute control over his supporters, which means that during a Trump presidency, even if his agenda is not passed (thanks to our system of checks and balances) his supporters will find a way to make it pass. It’s Sen. Sanders’ political revolution in reverse.

I hate to use the old cliche of “history repeating itself” but we’d be naive to not at least take a glance at the 20th century. The 20th century saw the rise of totalitarian rulers such as Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin. These men would not have been the type of feared, revered leaders/murderers that we know them as if they worked alone. However, they didn’t. Hitler had millions of angry Germans behind him who were simply looking for someone to blame for their nation’s shortcomings. The Jews of Germany and across Europe were a convenient scapegoat, which allowed his movement of antisemitism to progress across the region. Without this movement and the support that he received, Hitler would have been a failure. The type of support that Hitler received was not unlike the support of Mr. Trump today.

Now, I don’t say this to say that Mr. Trump is Hitler, as many of my companions on the left have. Mr. Trump has not proposed the genocide of millions of people, nor does he fit the bill of being a fascist. However, I am making the comparison to show that ideas, when coupled with a movement, can be implemented and can be dangerous. When all is said and done, I’m not afraid of a Trump presidency because of his sheer ignorance on so many issues, nor his proposals which reflect this; I’m afraid of the people who support him and his nonsensical ideas. People don’t make change; movements do.