Donald Trump: An Election Campaign Focused on Xenophobia

Despite being a descendant of immigrants (it’s already been confirmed that his mother was a Scottish immigrant, and his paternal grandparents were German immigrants), it appears from his behavior that Donald Trump, aspiring U.S. presidential candidate for the Republican Party, has forgotten his roots. This is evidenced by the fact that when his campaign officially launched, he began by insulting Mexican immigrants residing in the U.S., which generated endless criticism in the media. Since the aforementioned incident, he hasn’t stopped his racist remarks in public or on social media, nor has he stopped insulting the country’s political class (as he did with Sen. John McCain, “the war hero”), artists, businessmen and other groups.

Among the latest noteworthy incidents was Trump’s demand that noted journalist Jorge Ramos of Univision be removed from a press conference simply because Trump was bothered by the reporter’s questions to Trump about his xenophobia. Upon analysis of the incidents, I dare say that Trump has focused on disseminating a xenophobic, anti-immigrant message.

To clear up the terminology, let’s remember that xenophobia is nothing more than a feeling of revulsion or hate toward foreigners, which can manifest itself in different ways. Many states have labeled this type of behavior a crime; along those lines, for example, the European Union approved a law against racism and xenophobia.

Returning to Trump’s actions, I wonder if this political communication strategy is devised or approved by his campaign advisers in order to create headlines, or if he simply loses control and breaks from the guidelines set by the experts that he’s contracted.

If it’s a communication strategy, with all due respect to his advisers, it seems paradoxical and absurd that a candidate aspiring to the presidency in a country like the U.S., which harbors 40.4 million foreigners who represent 13 percent of the population, could continue to conduct himself as previously described. At the same time, he must be forgetting that Barack Obama, the current president, gained his victory on the backs of the Latino population, of which 71 percent voted in his favor.

According to information provided by the Federal Election Commission, Trump is the richest candidate to run for president of the United States. It seems nice that he has been able to maintain his fortune, which includes a base of many immigrant employees. But in spite of all the power he possesses, and the fact that the Republican Party base shows him as the favorite in the preliminary polls, I highly doubt that this campaign will happen as it does in many Latin American countries, where in the end, an election campaign enforces money over the will of the people.