By Trevor Maloney
On Thursday, 3 March 2016, the leading candidate to be the Republican Party’s nominee for President of the United States reassured the American people by suggestion that contrary to his rival’s insinuations, he indeed has a big penis.
The likely Republican nominee said, “[Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)] referred to my hands — if they’re small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there’s no problem, I guarantee.” This was of course uttered during a nationally televised Republican Presidential primary debate.
The Republican Party is one of only two major American political parties. And after all, this was a debate presumably about who of the four remaining Republican candidates should be their Party’s nominee for President. So, one would be forgiven for finding it odd that a candidate’s anatomy is somehow germane to the subject matter of the debate. However, this is the current state of discourse in American Presidential politics.
Just how did we get here?
On 16 June 2015, Donald Trump descended from his escalator in Trump Tower directly into the heated campaign spotlight by accusing the Mexican government of sending its people into the United States through the U.S. southern border. He went further saying, “They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bring[ing] drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
Many in the media, business, popular culture, and politics accused Mr. Trump of racism. Some companies like Macy’s, an American retail company, and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), an American television network, cut business ties with Mr. Trump.
This was only the beginning of the many controversies that would erupt due to comments of Mr. Trump.
Later in the summer he was seemingly unsure of what to make of the war record of U.S. Senator, John McCain (R-AZ), a Vietnam war veteran who was captured, tortured, and when given the chance to escape stayed behind so not to abandon his fellow soldiers who were also taken prisoner. Mr. McCain suggested that Mr. Trump’s supporters were mentally unhinged, saying he had “fired up the crazies.” In response, Mr. Trump said, [Sen. McCain] is a war hero because he got captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” He further went on to say on his infamous Twitter account that “captured or not, all our soldiers are heroes!”
Needless to say, there again were many who were outraged and considered Mr. Trump’s candidacy to be over.
But Mr. Trump’s campaign has been fueled by an ever increasing core of support across the United States since the summer. A recent CNN national poll gave Mr. Trump 49% of support amongst registered Republicans in a five-person field. That’s an impressive amount of support given it comes on the heels of many purportedly campaign-ending comments and controversies.
Contrary to what has been the conventional political wisdom, Mr. Trump’s outrageous statements and the attacks from his rivals only seem to strengthen him.
Who are these people who continue to support Mr. Trump regardless of what he says or does?
According to NBC, exit polls from the Super Tuesday contests–the first multi-state contest day consisting of 11 primaries and caucuses–showed that Mr. Trump’s supporters are overwhelmingly white, non-college-educated, conservative Republicans who are angry with government in Washington, and who prefer a Presidential candidate outside of the political establishment.
Many commentators have described Mr. Trump’s candidacy as essentially populist in nature. But such a characterization is almost always intended to condemn and dismiss. However, while the populist characterization is certainly apropos, the intent to condemn and dismiss is imprudent.
The current state of American populism is potent in force thanks to the candidacies of Mr. Trump on the right and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders on the left. In Mr. Trump’s case in particular, the populist concerned is overwhelmingly white, poorly educated, and have been disproportionately affected by the shifts in the American economy due to the economic forces of globalization.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States lost about 5 million manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2014. Additionally, the mining and logging industry lost 131,000 jobs within the past year (2014-2015); and the unemployment rate among those 25-64 years old with at least a high school diploma was 7.4% unemployment rate compared to 3.4 for those with a Bachelor’s degree or higher.
These statistics begin to paint a picture of the economic difficulty that many people have had to face; and many of these people find Mr. Trump and his slogan of “making America great again” most appealing.
As much as Mr. Trump’s message is one of economic resurgence, it’s also one of cultural resurgence. It appeals to those that feel left behind by an economy that increasingly disproportionately benefits higher educated and highly skilled workers and a mainstream culture that is increasingly secular, somewhat anti-religious, and more cosmopolitan.
The cultural alienation is probably most strongly felt amongst self-identified Evangelical Christians. For many years Evangelicals have been on the forefront of the culture wars, a crusade against secularization, abortion rights, homosexuality and same-sex marriage. At the same time it was a collective plea for a mainstream culture based more on Traditionalist Christian morals and values. It is no surprise then that Mr. Trump also has wide appeal amongst Evangelicals, even though many don’t believe Mr. Trump is a devout Christian himself.
Given the discontent of Mr. Trump’s supporters with the economy, mainstream culture, and a government that in their eyes has failed to represent them, it seems perfectly reasonable that these people are angry. Their discontent and anger together have produced one of the most unique, potent, and bewildering movements in modern American political history.
Trump supporters want to set the country ablaze, and they have an insult-throwing fire breather to do it. And nothing will dissuade them from their weapon of choice, regardless of the extremity of his insults and remarks.
The level of American political discourse has stooped so low because the discontent and anger of a significant part of the populist has grown so high. And in many ways this helps explain the candidacy of Donald J. Trump.
Trevor Maloney, Class of 2016, is an International Relations and International Law major, from West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
