Donald Trump Is Just a Pimple
Stop picking at it or it will get worse!
With the current congressional investigation, the 2022 midterm elections coming up, and an awful lot of media speculation about whether he will attempt another run for the presidency, I feel like many people are becoming concerned again with Donald Trump. It makes sense; he is an attention-grabbing and polarizing figure. But he is also very distracting, and sometimes I worry that our collective focus on Trump distracts us from seeing a more important problem: the systems that allow a person like Trump to gain and wield political power. So I wondered, what can I learn from focusing on these systems instead of Trump?
To me, the most obvious source of political power for Trump is his supporters. What do Trump supporters have in common? What kinds of traits/circumstances/beliefs do they share? This article from Psychology Today lists the following qualities as being positively related to Trump support:
Being white and only having contact with other white people (white racial/ethnic isolation)
“An unrealistic shared belief in the greatness of one’s national group” (national collective narcissism)
“A belief in total and complete obedience to authority” (authoritarian personality)
A belief that some social groups, especially high-status ones, ought to dominate others (preference for social hierarchy)
Hmmm. Not exactly “feel-good” research, but certainly informative. I find the social hierarchy angle particularly compelling. It reminded me of a talk that researcher Dr. Brian Lowery gave about social hierarchy and Trump support when I was still in grad school. I remember one exchange where he answered a question about why people support Trump, and he essentially said*:
If you’re relatively low in the social hierarchy, as many of Trump’s supporters are, disruption within the hierarchy is not a problem. In fact, you want disruption because that change might allow you to move up in the hierarchy. So you can think about this disruption as a fight, like a bar brawl. You want your biggest friend there with you, and you don’t care that he’s a terrible person or a liar, you just want the guy that’ll win the fight. Trump is that guy.
When I look at research like this about what gives Trump his political power, I can see the support he receives is not really about him at all, but what he represents. Trump is living, breathing white supremacy. He is a golem of sorts, so perfect in its unformed nature that its followers can easily project their own motivations, desires, fears, and insecurities, onto it. White supremacy is the hierarchy Trump supporters ascribe to, and Trump is the strongman they want on their side in the fight to legally enshrine that hierarchy on a national level. Let me put it a few other ways:
- White supremacy is Trump’s favorite fast-food brand; Trump can’t live without it but business does just fine without Trump.
- White supremacy is an infection, rotting and festering beneath the surface of the skin; Trump is just a pimple.
- White supremacy is the system; Trump is just an actor within that system.
Objectively, I understand the fixation on Trump rather than systems like white supremacy because objectively, Trump’s continued acceptance in U.S. politics should alarm everyone. He’s an authoritarian whose political alignment can be bought with access to power. I can’t even say he’s Machiavellian because it implies self-control; he’s worse. He’s an impulsive narcissist who is completely self-unaware, so he’s blissfully ignorant to the fact that he’s an impulsive narcissist. He’s seemingly so oblivious to his own motivations that he is totally at the whim of his narcissism, which would make him super easy to manipulate by individuals, politicians, powerful groups, and even countries. How anyone who calls themselves an American can continue to support him, especially after what the Jan. 6th committee has found, is beyond my understanding, and —
Ahem.
Anyhow, what was I saying? About how it’s important to stop hyper-focusing on Trump and remember the big picture? Hmmm…I guess it’s easier said than done.
*Author’s paraphrasing, but for reference Dr. Lowery’s response starts 58:50 in the embedded link to his talk above.
