Decoding Trump

Published in El País
(Spain) on 11 March 2016
by Francisco G. Basterra (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Louisa Devine. Edited by Bora Mici.
Trump could be president of the United States. What up until very recently seemed like a pipe-dream is now becoming a reality, causing astonishment and concern from Europe to China and triggering alarm in the U.S. The no longer remote possibility that Trump could become the leader of the only real remaining superpower compels us to take a close look at its significance. It is necessary to deconstruct the campaign of a character who appears to be a charlatan, who comes across as coarse, intolerant, a rabble rouser and a bully, who stirs up ethnically and racially-motivated resentment toward Hispanics and African-Americans and dispenses simple solutions to complex problems.

Trump resembles his caricature, and it would be dangerous to focus solely on it — the multimillionaire construction mogul who funds his own campaign, the showman we see on television, the anti-politician who is buying the presidency, admirer of Putin, advocate of torture and of deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants, of building a wall along the Mexican border and of punishing China with elevated export tariffs because "China is ripping us.” Trump is excessive, dishonest, but not at all stupid. He is riding the wave of anti-elitism, which is sweeping the United States. We must not underestimate this Yankee Berlusconi parody.

The American people have not suddenly gone mad, nor does the Republican Party want to commit suicide. However, its irresponsible demolition campaign of anything related to Obama has resulted in extreme political polarization, from which the Trump phenomenon has sprouted. The tea party, gun lobby, far-right radio flamethrowers are the layer below the surface of Trumpism. The party of Lincoln has sold its soul to populism to take back the White House.

Donald Trump does not operate in a vacuum. The primaries showed the grassroots support that is encouraging him. They are white, with no college education, generally coming from the lowest middle classes and from households with an income of less than $30,000 per year whose quality of life has collapsed. They feel besieged by the Hispanic and African-American minorities, who are beginning to overtake them demographically, and neglected by the political establishment in Washington. All the while, they feel their more conservative values are being undermined.

Trump speaks their language, without mincing his words. It is the middle class that has ended up poor. The majority of voters, explains Thomas Friedman in The New York Times, "do not listen through their ears. They listen through their stomachs,” and Trump connects with them on an emotional level. He is a product of the age of anti-politics, a right-wing populist. He is playing in the same league as Marine Le Pen in France, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Viktor Orban in Hungary. He also shares the demagoguery, which, as the president of Mexico reminded us when referring to Trump, put Mussolini and Hitler in power. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy gave us a hint to help us understand the Trump phenomenon. He wrote in The National Review that "Donald Trump is not the cause of deterioration in our politics. He is the effect of deterioration in our culture.”


Descifrando a Trump
El magnate cabalga sobre la ola de antielitismo que sacude a Estados Unidos
FRANCISCO G. BASTERRA
11 MAR 2016 - 20:40 CET
Trump puede ser presidente de Estados Unidos. Lo que hasta hace muy poco parecía una quimera ya no lo es. Provoca estupor y preocupación desde Europa a China y desata la alarma en EE UU. La posibilidad, ya no remota, de que se alce con el poder en la todavía única superpotencia realmente existente, nos obliga a profundizar en su significado. Es necesario descifrar la campaña de un personaje que aparece como un charlatán, zafio en las formas, intolerante, demagogo, matón, atizador de resentimientos étnicos y raciales sobre hispanos y negros, dispensador de soluciones simples para problemas complejos.

Trump se parece a su caricatura y sería peligroso quedarse solo en ella: el multimillonario de la construcción, que se paga su campaña, showman de la televisión, el antipolítico que compra la presidencia, admirador de Putin, partidario de ampliar la tortura, de deportar a 11 millones de inmigrantes indocumentados y de construir un muro a lo largo de la frontera con México, y de castigar con elevadas tarifas las exportaciones chinas, porque “China nos está estafando.” Trump es excesivo, tramposo, pero en absoluto estúpido. Cabalga sobre la ola de antielitismo que sacude a Estados Unidos. No minusvaloremos a este remedo Berlusconi yanqui.

El partido de Lincoln ha vendido su alma al populismo para recuperar la Casa Blanca
Los estadounidenses no se han vuelto locos de repente, ni el Partido Republicano quiere suicidarse. Sin embargo, su irresponsable campaña de demolición de todo lo que significa Obama, ha provocado la polarización extrema de la vida política sobre la que ha germinado el fenómeno Trump. El Tea Party, el lobby de las armas, los lanzallamas radiofónicos de la ultraderecha, son el sustrato del trumpismo. El partido de Lincoln ha vendido su alma al populismo para recuperar la Casa Blanca.

Donald Trump no opera sobre el vacío. Las primarias demuestran que existen las bases populares que le propulsan. Son los blancos sin título universitario, con menos ingresos, las clases medias más bajas, los hogares que ingresan 30.000 dólares al año, cuya calidad de vida ha colapsado. Se sienten asediados por las minorías hispana y negra, que les comen demográficamente; desatendidos por el establishment político de Washington. Perciben al mismo tiempo que sus valores, más conservadores, son deslegitimados.

Trump habla su lenguaje, sin pelos en la lengua. Es la clase media que ha pasado a ser pobre. La mayoría de los votantes, explica Thomas Friedman en el New York Times, "no escuchan con los oídos sino con el estómago", y Trump conecta con ellos a nivel emocional. Es un producto propio de la era de la antipolítica. Un populista de derechas. Juega en la liga de Marine Le Pen, en Francia, Geert Wilders, en Holanda, o de Viktor Orban, en Hungría. Y comparten la demagogia que, como recuerda el presidente de México, refiriéndose a Trump, es la misma que llevó al poder a Mussolini y a Hitler. Andrew McCarthy, ex fiscal adjunto de Estados Unidos, nos da la pista para entender el fenómeno Trump al escribir en The National Review: “Donald Trump no es la causa del deterioro de nuestra política, sino el efecto del deterioro de nuestra cultura.”
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