Trump is no ‘phenomenon’: he is a product of today’s America
- Trump was born and educated in this country; he was given a set of values in this country; and he was shaped politically by the ideas of this country
- To treat Trump as being outside this nation’s history is to turn him into a useful but cheaply devised scapegoat
Donald Trump is not a phenomenon. There is nothing unique about this US president. Yet, Democrats talk about him as if he were a newfangled incarnation of wickedness and incompetence. Republicans talk about him as if he were a political virtuoso of world-shattering stature.
Who should be Time Person of the Year? Trump can’t imagine anyone else but Trump
But both parties are wrong about him. Trump may be a character, but he is not a singular character. Trump may have a big personality, but it is not so extraordinary that it has not been weathered before. Trump may be fantastically wealthy, but that is not a novelty in the White House either. By the comparative standards of the 18th century, how rich were George Washington and Thomas Jefferson?
Donald Trump’s re-election chances haven’t been hurt by the US midterm results
Trump is not especially stupid or evil, as most Democrats contend. The truth is he is just another politician who has chosen to take sides in the timeless pursuit of individual liberty and human rights all over the world.
