POLITICS
If Trump Wins
Searching white America’s soul
If Trump wins, it won’t be because of his policies, his rhetoric, or even his style. A second Trump presidency will happen because he symbolizes a person willing to brutally avenge his supporters’ real and perceived losses of power. Their real loss of power has been economic. Their perceived loss of power has been cultural. And they are terrified because they can’t imagine a world that’s not zero-sum.
Enter the symbol of Trump the Hero.
Notice that I say Trump symbolizes a person willing to avenge his supporters. I do not believe Trump cares enough about other people to actually do anything to help them. He cares about other people caring about him, and he rewards their adoration with praise and perhaps a cushy job or some position of influence. But that’s far from the same thing as caring about them.
Yet he can tell when the crowd loves a line, and he’s happy to give them more of what they love. From sheer flying-by-the-seat-of-his-pants, Trump learned to aim the right belligerance, expressed the right pompous way, at the right entities to represent for many Americans the heroic archetype — the powerful man who imposes his will on the world and makes things better for everyone else. His supporters have definite ideas about what “better” would mean.
