Donald Trump: A Return to Humanity?

Published in L'Express
(France) on 21 August 2016
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Beth Holding. Edited by Melanie Rehfuss.
He’s reached out to black and Hispanic minorities, and he’s expressed regret for his hurtful comments. After another reshuffling of his campaign team, the Republican candidate seems to be cooling down. Will it last?

Has Donald Trump really changed? He’s visited flood victims in Louisiana, expressed regret for his hurtful comments, and made discreet appeals to African-Americans and Hispanics.

After a series of unfavorable poll results, the Republican candidate for the White House, Trump — an advocate of provocation and scalding critique — seems to want to imbue his campaign with a new tone.

This decision was perhaps the result of recent changes to his campaign team for the second time in two months. On Wednesday, Donald Trump announced the promotions of Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway and CEO of the controversial right-wing site Breitbart News Steve Bannon, naming them campaign manager and chief executive, respectively.

Sometimes, ‘You Say the Wrong Thing’

On Thursday, the populist candidate for the first time expressed "regret" — but did not apologize — for hurtful comments made during a speech in North Carolina as part of his campaign. “Sometimes, in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that. And believe it or not, I regret it,” he added, in a rare moment of humility.

An Attempt To Charm Blacks

On Friday, he attempted to persuade black American voters — who are traditionally more favorable toward Democrats — to rally behind him. “No group in America has been more harmed by Hillary Clinton’s policies than African-Americans,” he said during a meeting at Dimondale in Washington. “Their [the Democratic Party] policies have produced only poverty, joblessness, failing schools, and broken homes. 58 percent of your youth are unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?”

Compassion for Louisiana Flood Victims

Several hours earlier, the billionaire had been to flood-ravaged Louisiana, while President Obama neglected to interrupt his vacation to visit the devastated region. The American president finally announced that he would be traveling to Louisiana on Tuesday, wishing to avoid disturbing the police with a presidential visit.

A Gesture Toward Hispanics

This Sunday, Kellyanne Conway refuted one of Trump’s most controversial claims to date, backpedaling on plans to deport some 11 million undocumented immigrants. This gesture will mainly target the Hispanic community, whose significance within the American electorate is constantly on the rise. Things are yet “to be determined,” said the campaign manager when questioned in an interview with CNN on Trump’s moderation during his meeting with his newly formed Hispanic Advisory Council on Saturday. The populist candidate has declared that he wants to act in a more “fair and humane” manner, explained Conway. “What he supports is to make sure that we enforce the law, that we are respectful of those Americans who are looking for well-paying jobs, and that we are fair and humane for those who live among us in this country.”

Trump had previously promised the creation of a special force in charge of deporting millions of undocumented immigrants — half of them being Mexicans — living on American soil.

Will Donald Trump be capable of making long-term changes to his rhetoric? Will these changes allow him to climb in the polls? His first televised campaign ad, aired on Friday — a clip focused largely on security, depicting waves of immigrants rushing toward the U.S — does not support this newfound moderation.


Messages adressés aux minorités noires et hispaniques, "regrets" pour ses paroles blessantes. Après un nouveau remaniement de son équipe de campagne, le candidat républicain donne des signes d'apaisement. Cela durera-t-il?

Donald Trump aurait-il changé? Une visite aux sinistrés de Louisiane, des "regrets" pour les paroles blessantes qu'il a pu prononcer, des appels du pied aux Africains-Américains et aux Hispaniques.

Après une série de sondages défavorables, le candidat républicain à la Maison Blanche Donald Trump champion des provocations et des diatribes enflammées semble vouloir imprimer un nouveau ton à sa campagne.

Ce choix est peut-être le fruit de sa nouvelle équipe de campagne, remaniée pour la seconde fois en deux mois. Donald Trump a annoncé, mercredi, la promotion de Kellyanne Conway, une sondeuse républicaine devenue sa directrice de campagne, et de Steve Bannon, outsider populiste, patron du site d'informations conservateur polémique Breitbart News, comme directeur général.

Parfois, "on ne choisit pas les bons mots"

Jeudi, le candidat populiste a pour la première fois exprimé ses "regrets" -mais pas ses excuses- pour les paroles blessantes prononcées au cours de la campagne, lors d'un discours en Caroline du Nord. "Parfois, dans le feu de l'action dans un débat, ou en s'exprimant sur de multiples sujets, on ne choisit pas les bons mots ou on dit la mauvaise chose", a-t-il déclaré. "Cela m'est arrivé". "Et vous n'êtes pas obligés de me croire, mais je le regrette", a-t-il ajouté, dans un rare moment d'humilité.

Une tentative de charmer les Noirs
Vendredi, il a tenté de persuader les électeurs noirs américains, traditionnellement favorables aux démocrates, de se rallier à lui. "Aucun groupe en Amérique n'a plus souffert des politiques d'Hillary Clinton que les Noirs", a déclaré le milliardaire lors d'un meeting à Dimondale, dans le Michigan. "Vous vivez dans la pauvreté, vos écoles sont mauvaises, vous n'avez pas de travail, 58% de votre jeunesse est au chômage. Mais qu'est-ce que vous avez à perdre ?"

Compassion pour les sinistrés de Louisiane
Quelques heures plus tôt, le milliardaire s'était rendu en Louisiane, frappée par de très graves inondations, alors que le président Obama n'a pas interrompu ses vacances pour visiter la région sinistrée -le président américain a finalement annoncé qu'il s'y rendrait mardi et voulait éviter de perturber les forces de l'ordre par une visite présidentielle.

Un geste en faveur des Hispaniques ?
Ce dimanche, Kellyanne Conway est revenue sur l'une des déclarations les plus controversées du candidat républicain: celle de déporter les quelque 11 millions de sans-papiers. Un geste qui vise principalement la communauté hispanique, dont le poids ne cesse de croître dans l'électorat américain. "Le sujet reste à déterminer", a répondu la directrice de campagne interrogée par CNN sur la modération de Donald Trump lors d'une rencontre avec son nouveau Conseil hispanique, samedi. Le populiste aurait déclaré vouloir agir de manière "juste et humaine", a développé Kellyanne Conway: Donald Trump "défend l'application de la loi, que nous respections les Américains qui cherchent des emplois bien rémunérés et que nous soyons justes et fassions preuve d'humanité à l'égard de ceux qui vivent parmi nous".

Par le passé, il avait promis de mettre en place une force spéciale chargée d'expulser les millions de clandestins --Mexicains pour la moitié d'entre eux-- vivant sur le sol américain.

Donald Trump sera-t-il capable de modérer durablement son discours et cette modération permettra-t-elle de le faire remonter dans les sondages? Sa première publicité télévisée, divulguée vendredi, un clip essentiellement axé sur la sécurité et des images de flots d'immigrés se ruant vers les Etats-Unis n'allait pas dans le sens de cette nouvelle modération.
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

Hot this week

South Korea: Trump Halts Military Aid to Taiwan, and It Concerns Us, Too

Pakistan: US Debt and Global Economy

Turkey: Will the US Be a Liberal Country Again?

Mexico: Qatar, Trump and Venezuela

Malaysia: The Tariff Trap: Why America’s Protectionist Gambit Only Tightens China’s Grip on Global Manufacturing

Topics

South Korea: Trump Halts Military Aid to Taiwan, and It Concerns Us, Too

Japan: ‘Department of War’ Renaming: The Repulsiveness of a Belligerent Attitude

Turkey: Will the US Be a Liberal Country Again?

Singapore: TikTok Deal Would Be a Major Win for Trump, but Not in the Way You Might Expect

Pakistan: US Debt and Global Economy

Mexico: Qatar, Trump and Venezuela

Mexico: Nostalgia for the Invasions

Related Articles

South Korea: Trump Halts Military Aid to Taiwan, and It Concerns Us, Too

Turkey: Will the US Be a Liberal Country Again?

Singapore: TikTok Deal Would Be a Major Win for Trump, but Not in the Way You Might Expect

Pakistan: US Debt and Global Economy

2 COMMENTS

  1. It is neo-liberal Hillary Clinton-more and more sounding like a neo-con-who- is wallowing in effete ” identity politics “. In rather crude tones right wing Republican Donald Trump is telling the truth about Hillary’s own brand of ” bigotry “.
    But it is false to think that race is the really big issue in the American presidential election of 2016. The really big issue was voiced by ” socialist ” Democrat Bernie Sanders : unacceptable economic class inequality.
    In over-demonizing Donald Trump the mainstream news media here is losing credibility.

  2. As a US citizen I have been concerned about the worldview of our current political situation. This is how I came upon this article. I implore the author of the article to dig a little deeper and do more fact checking before presenting such biased information in the future, that affects the world’s view of the U.S. For example, yes, Trump did visit Louisiana and our flooded areas, however, this was a publicity stunt and photo-op and nothing more. President Obama did everything that needed to be done to secure funds immediately to support the recovery efforts in Louisiana after the floods, and stayed away, honoring the request of our Governor, as a presidential visit requires an enormous amount of manpower from law enforcement and other disaster first responders. Our Governor (and President) realized a presidential visit during the immediate aftermath of the floods would take away precious resources from people with immediate need of rescue in addition to blocking viable roadways in the most inopportune of times. I never comment on these blogs but when I witnessed the wrong information being spread that impacts the impression of our country, our country’s leadership, and our country’s incoming leadership is being spread I felt I had to offer my voice to try and clarify. Hopefully your readers will read this post, and not take your inadequate and under-researched comments as fact. Hopefully you will employ a greater level of due diligence next time you write a piece on American politics. Or perhaps, and I have not looked into this yet so I do not know, your media outlet is one of the many that is not as concerned with factual news reporting as it is with favorable news reporting for your sponsors. So perhaps you are simply being paid to spread and share the story that means the most to your benefactors. This would not be much unlike what we see with many news outlets in the U.S.