Let’s Make America White Again

President Trump is unhinging democracy, and outrage and reason are slipping in the face of his provocations

It is not easy to find a country as contradictory as the United States: capable of harboring the highest aspirations, saving Europe in two world wars and considering itself exceptional—and sometimes, as with the U.S. today, a country that is awkward and impotent in its international relations. It is unable to face the biggest of challenges, climate change, or to get along with China, while at the same time it looks down upon its European allies. For its July 4 edition, a New York Times editorial acknowledged that versions of these American contradictions have persisted for a long time, but are especially acute on the country’s national birthday.

Today it is the country of Trump, a man who states on the cover of Time magazine that “my whole life is a bet.” As though to confirm it, the real estate mogul, who all too often acts on instinct, has doubled his bet. The president, who is ignorant but not stupid, controls the electoral framework, infuriates the Democrats, and offends all non-white citizens whom he does not consider to be true Americans whether they were born in this country or not.

According to Trump, this status is held only by white natives. Let’s Make America White Again seems to be the slogan of this president (whose German grandfather immigrated to the United States) as he pursues his reelection. Trump is doubling down on this racist commitment in an already open electoral race, stirring up the demon of racial issues that continues to persist, with his absurd defense of white supremacy. Barack Obama looked forward to the possibility of racial progress, but today Trump has dismissed four young Democratic congresswomen from the U.S. stating they should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

We have a racist in the White House. A man whose father did not allow non-white people to rent his real estate property in New York and who, when he visited his casino in Atlantic City, requested that black employees be hidden out of sight. Trump intends to create a register of citizens and non-citizens, something that has never been done before in the United States, because he believes that American citizenship is founded on race and that only white people can be citizens.

President Trump is unhinging democracy, and outrage and reason are slipping in the face of his provocations. The more noise caused by his tweets, the more he manages to divert attention from the main issue; and the continuous attacks he receives, boomerang back onto his opponents. The flag of white nationalism, the stop placed upon immigration and the announcement of reckless policies serve only to unite his supporters. Fifty-seven percent of Republicans believe that the national identity is under threat, while 62% of Americans think that opening the country up to people from around the world is essential to improving the understanding of themselves as a nation. (USA Today / Ipsos survey)

Trump acts as though he is an arsonist burning down everything that remains, and yet he manages to dominate the national debate over the Democratic Party, which has not yet worked out what sort of strategy to adopt in the face of the president. Trump is placing his bets because he has managed to paint the Democratic Party as being radical and anti-American. Seventy years later, the witch hunt has returned.