The Perfect Trumpist Playbook

Donald Trump’s tactics and strategy are on the rise with followers. Here are some examples.

The haranguing. The inflammatory speech. The Twitter rally. The attack on the Capitol. Allegations of voting fraud . The vilification. None of these strategies was enough to keep Trump in the White House. He burned his bridges as he departed, threw a tantrum, and left office with the blood of several people on his hands. The only thing that resembled a “great” exit was the image of Air Force One taking off from Andrews Air Force Base as Frank Sinatra sang “My Way” in the background.

And yet, Trump’s model is a success. His techniques and tactics, his words and arguments, far from disappearing, have spread across the globe like false rumors do.

A recent example occurred on Sept. 7 during the rallies that Jair Bolsonaro held for Independence Day in Brazil, a show of force dedicated to the Supreme Court, with which he is at odds.

Like Trump at the Ellipse, Bolsonaro filled the streets with people. He addressed the crowd in the same dangerous tones. Brasilia feared that things would turn into the disaster in Washington. People talked of a coup and other threats, but they never occurred.

One of the images from the perfect Trumpist playbook is that of Jake Angeli — a.k.a. the “Yellowstone Wolf” — a follower of the QAnon conspiracy movement and one of the most visible faces of the assault on the Capitol.

Donning a fur hat and horns, a beard, and a face painted red, white and blue, the half-naked “shaman” defied the freezing cold of Washington and led the invasion; he was the epitome of barbarity.

As for the Sept. 7 demonstrations, the media managed a scoop: a Latino version of the legendary Angeli.

The cameras immortalized the fan of Bolsonaro, wearing a fur hat and horns, a beard, his face painted with Brazil’s national colors and a tough-guy expression. He was a meme of his American counterpart. Bolsonaro’s supporters have definitely bought into the whole playbook.

Much earlier, Keiko Fujimori’s defeat in Peru last June and her effort to launch a legal offensive to reverse the election results also looked like a page from the Trump playbook. And like him, she got nowhere.

As for Argentina, some local candidate with tousled hair and a libertarian speech also seems to have read the book. And if the numbers in November give him a seat in Congress, we will have to see what he does with it.