Fist raised, gaze full of defiance, blood on his cheek, firmly surrounded by Secret Service agents, with the American flag in the background. They say a picture is worth a thousand words: whether you like Trump or not, this photo conveys the portrait of a strong leader who won’t be brought down, despite adversity, despite the « deep state » (his words), despite even violence. What more could Trump want?
A CNN journalist on site said he heard, seconds after the event, a Trump supporter exclaim: « Trump just got elected. He’s a martyr. » I believe this voter saw it right.
The man has always been larger than life. And quite a showman. While the Secret Service was escorting him down from the stage, he had the political acumen to raise his fist in the air and urge his admirers to fight.
The Republican convention starts tomorrow and Trump will be welcomed as a hero, even a martyr, because that’s what he’s looking for. It’s an image he’s been carefully cultivating for several years now. Trump claims he’s there to fight for Americans. For what cause, that’s less clear. Against the deep state? We’d first need to prove it exists. For conservative values? Yeah, maybe. For the rich? There I’m convinced.
His fighter message resonates with a certain segment of the American electorate. He’s pugnacious, he defies his opponents, he shakes up political codes with his frank and direct language. Until yesterday, he wanted us to believe he was persecuted. I wrote « wanted us to believe » because the accusations against him stem from his own actions: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress (first impeachment) and incitement to insurrection (second impeachment). Not to mention the fact that he’s recently become a convicted criminal.
I was reading yesterday that Trump has always been lucky in politics. In addition to his luck, he seems to feel no remorse for his odious actions and defamatory statements. And he’s the ultimate teflon candidate; he himself said he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue in New York and his popularity wouldn’t drop. Beyond his luck and the fact that the average American doesn’t hold his excesses against him, we must admit that Trump is a genius at self-promotion.
He had incredible luck yesterday — the bullet still grazed his ear! He will now be able to claim that he is truly an American martyr.
Eric,
The US election is always a mesmerising spectacle for those of us outside the US. This election is no different.
In a broader sense, the trajectory of Western democracies seems to have gone awry somewhere. I find it ironic that at a time when the West, with a seeming absence of existential threats, has embarked on a diversity, equality and inclusion pathway (all noble endeavours in and of themselves), we are at our most divided, fractured and fraught. It would seem that the while the intent was good, the execution has been awful, inept and self-serving.
With almost instant access to the world’s accumulated knowledge and instantaneous global communication, we currently find ourselves less and less able to discern fact from fiction. We also seem incapable of engaging in a rational and productive contest of ideas, a traditional hallmark of liberal democracy.
I am not sure how America will vote. What I do know is, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, that you can always rely on Americans to do the right thing…but only after they have tried everything else first.