8 Years of Trump

For a long time we have seen Donald Trump as a paranormal phenomenon and have comforted ourselves that he would not last long. At the same time, we detected that this anomaly had deep roots in both American society and in a series of global processes and tendencies. However, after the midterm elections, it appeared as though the anomaly is very close to becoming the new normal. So the question is, are we prepared for eight years of Trump? Because we can only begin to imagine the damage to American democracy and to the world order that a double serving of Trump would provoke.

It is true that in last Tuesday’s election the Democrats reclaimed the House of Representatives and from there they can pester Trump and eventually weaken him with respect to some key personal and legislative issues (for instance, his tax returns or the Russian interference investigation). However, given the impunity with which he has acted so far, we should not be optimistic.

Until now, Trump has been capable of gliding over the water, like a hovercraft, on a cushion of air formed by a combination of, in equal parts, unlimited narcissism, a populism as shameless as it is grim, an incredible capacity to lie, a ton of money and support from the alternative media and the far right. But behind the noise and fury generated by the character of Trump, we have witnessed a more complete fusion between the interests and agendas of Trump himself and the Republican Party.

With the economy growing, corporate tax decreasing and high employment in the labor market, the Republicans have almost everything they want. Add God, guns and a dash of racism and xenophobia, and you add all those who identify themselves as on the right, or as the religious right, who for years have been hostile to the Republicans and instead found refuge in the tea party or abstained from voting. We must add that the Democrats have no candidate, surely because they have no idea how to defeat Trump, and they have accepted the game of polarization and intend to take their votes to the streets (although they won the popular vote in 2016, it didn’t help them), or they intend to adapt their message to topics like trade and immigration to regain the Democratic voters who deserted to Trump. The question we should ask, after this election, is whether Trump is further or closer to re-election, and unfortunately it seems that he is closer.