The most talked about name this election cycle is Donald Trump. His controversial statements and equally controversial past make him both an icon and a threat to the two-party system and the establishment. But Trump embodies so much more than politics, and his candidacy for president of the United States is not politics as usual. He has run a campaign like a circus. His competitors hate him. And it seems as if the world is laughing at him and his supporters. So why is he here? And why is he labeled bigot, racist, misogynist, and crazy? Well, I'm here to tell you why and how he got here.
Trump trumps the competition.
To understand his rise to power, we need to examine his political past. Donald J. Trump has publicly considered running for president six times. Once in 1988, once in 2000, then in 2004, 2008, and 2012. He finally officially put his name on the primary ballot in 2016 when he announced he is running for president while touching on subjects such as China, Tom Brady and decaring himself a "very rich man" who "doesn't need your money". He ran as a fiscally/socially conservative candidate and joined over a dozen other candidates such as Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, Linsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, and Rick Perry. His announcement was followed by a statement that claimed Mexican immigrants were "rapists" and debuted his plan to build an enormous wall on the border, claiming the Mexican government would pay for it.
Trump realizing that the playing field was packed, began to strategize on the offensive. His primary tactic was to always be on the offense. In the debates, he portrayed himself as the greatest, and began to insult, demean, and embarrass all the other candidates. Finding dirt on each and every one, he knocked out each one. Soon, poll numbers showed him dramatically in the lead over all the other candidates and the primaries officially began in Iowa. Cruz actually won the caucus and to many this seemed like the precedent. However, primary by primary, Trump gained enormous momentum and by late Spring, became the presumptive nominee of the GOP when Ted Cruz suspended his campaign with John Kasich following in suit.
Donald Trump also showed an aggressive hatred of the media. During press conferences he targeted media and press officials with insults and avoided answering questions. Through dodging press inquiries, he was able to successfully maneuver his way around actually telling his supporters and the rest of the US how we would be able to carry out his highly controversial mass deportations, Muslim bans, the enormous wall, and in general, how he was going to make America great again.
His primary campaign relied heavily on money brought in by donations as well as his own money. For the most part, he self-financed his campaign by loaning himself money from many of his corporations. The Trump Organization gave massive undisclosed amounts of money to him.
Another key element on his journey to the nomination was dodging opposition by crushing it. If a report came in that showed him losing, he would disavow the credibility of it and call it hogwash. But if the same report favored him, he would shower it with praise.
His journey to the nomination was one of great controversy and sparked outrage from both establishment republicans and democrats alike. The GOP tried, in vain to conspire against him, but failed. By June, he became the official nominee.
The Silent Majority.
Richard Nixon once famously used the term, "the silent majority", asking the American people to stand by him. The "silent majority", by definition is an unspecified large group of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly. The reason being that their opinions may be highly controversial, and in this case, may be viewed as radical, discriminatory, sexist, and racist. Defining who this silent majority is, is very hard. Many had never voted before, so it was hard to actually define their political stance on many things.
But we have to look at Trump's propositions and policies to actually get a feel for why he appeals to the crowd he does. And before that, we need to find out who exactly he appeals with.
If you look at Trump's numbers, he appeals mostly to adult, white, uneducated, males that come from lower to lower-middle class backgrounds and standings. They are vastly conservative, religious and aren't concentrated in one region, however many come from rural areas. Trump has targeted these people and have labeled them collectively as the silent majority.
Celebrities and public personalities have come forward to endorse Trump publicly. The people that these people attract can give us insight to the demographic Trump appeals to. Some of them include:
- Aaron Carter (Singer)
- Jon Voight (Actor)
- Willie Robertson (Reality TV personality from TV's "Duck Dynasty")
- Stephen Baldwin (Actor)
- Ted Nugent (Musician)
- Gary Busey (Actor)
- Mike Tyson (Professional athlete)
Ted Nugent and Willie Robertson are both highly conservative/religious celebrities that have not only supported Trump but have used their platforms to controversially endorse him. "Duck Dynasty" has seen its ratings dropped and Ted Nugent's sales have dropped.
The bulk of Trump's supporters have displayed violent tendencies at rallies, and have also displayed a controversial racist side that hasn't been seen in decades. Most recently, two controversial endorsements have come from the KKK and North Korea. Trump was neutral on both, and sparked even more controversy by not denouncing the endorsement of the KKK. He seemed more concerned to keep the support, rather than throw it away.
The theory that Trump only attracts racist backwood gun-toting rednecks may hold significant merit. But only time will tell if this is true. And this may be the silent majority America has feared.
Why Is Trump Running For President?
The reason why Trump is not running for the senate, house of representatives, or governor is because he does not have enough support from any individual state's population to be to be elected.
He's running for president because his supporters are a majority of people that come from all over the place. Not one individual state, especially New York, his home turf. A democrat or establishment candidate would easily crush him at the state level. The game is also played differently at the state level. He would have to gain traction by having at least 25 percent of one state's support. Nearly impossible as every primary has proved. By running for president, support can be distributed nationwide, collectively turning the table towards him.
He is also running as a businessman and a billionaire. In office, he will support the 1 percent and pass tax reform that benefits his demographic and when he exits office he will have enabled himself to become an even wealthier man.
The Opposition.
One group of people that Trump has repetitively clashed with is women. Over the fast 40 years, major media news outlets have kept record of almost every seemingly misogynistic statement he has ever said. From Cher, Rosie O' Donnell, Megyn Kelly, Hillary Clinton, and many more, he has been number one on the feminist's most hated list. He famously tweeted in regards to Hillary Rodham Clinton's husbands famous affair:
In fact, the overwhelming majority of women in the U.S. have an unfavorable view of him according to almost every major poll. Trump has reacted to these numbers with indifference. This may very well be due to the fact that his history has him beat. The ship has already sunk with women and now he is clinging on feverishly to what little feminine support he has left.
The democratic party is in no way siding with Trump at all. Whether a Bernie or Hillary supporter, all democrats strongly believe Trump should never be able to step foot into the White House ever. Although Bernie Sanders has all but conceded the nomination to Clinton, the effort to keep Trump out of office has turned into a collaborative effort. Even before Clinton clinched the democratic nomination, she already had her eyes and campaign set upon an epic battle against Trump. As her Twitter account shows, she was ready to face off against him long before it was decided they would be the last ones standing.
If you have seen "The Hunger Games," Katniss Everdeen, at the beginning of the games, even before they had entered the arena, saw Cato, and knew he would be the one she eventually have to face off with, and eventually she did. This political mindset/strategy is not new. We can see this with many other campaigns as well, historically.
However as a general election matchup shows, every poll shows Clinton leading. It may not be by too much, but we need to remember that Trump's numbers in a general election match-up are going down and Hillary's trend seems to be only getting bigger every time new data shows up. As of Thursday, June 23, 2016 the general election matchup shows Clinton dominating Trump by an average of almost 6 points:
However, Bernie Sanders boasts an even wider margin in the GE matchup with almost an 11 point marginal lead over Trump:
For this reason, Trump and Clinton are desperately grappling for the Sanders supporters. If Trump can gain their support, which is nearly impossible, he may be able to close the gap and defeat Clinton. The reason this is impossible is because he opposes almost every policy of Sanders and he would lose mass support if he in any way endorsed him, which would end his campaign. If Clinton can secure the support of Bernie's fans, this will secure the general election for her. Combining her lead with Bernie's will give her a landslide victory over Trump. Clinton is pandering to the voters with "copycat-ism" of Sanders' policies while Trump uses brash empathy and persuasion.
However the struggle that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both face is their disapproval or "low approval ratings" which have proven to be quite historic. It's so important to note that both candidates' approval ratings are the lowest in US history. Hillary Clinton's favorability amongst Americans has plummeted since 2009 as the Huffington Post reports and seems to also trend downward:
Credit: Huffington Post - Click Here For Full Poll, 2016
Credit: Huffington Post - Click Here To Access Full Poll, 2016
The final part of the race seems to be grappling fiercely for the remaining Sanders supporters and the undecided. This is one of the most controversial elections due to the fact that both candidates have such low approval ratings and have a history they can use against each other in a general election match up.
Trump's Future.
The logistic specialists, polls, pundits, and data show that the democratic majority that elected Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 will not elect Trump as president. In all likelihood, he will continue to lose favorability amongst establishment voters as the trend on almost all polls show and his weaknesses will be exploited by the army of strategists at Clinton's campaign. History shows us that even if you dominate the primaries, you may not stand a chance in the general.
As Hillary's well oiled machine of a campaign steam rolls Trump's currently fiscally struggling one, she will gain momentum as the margin between them increases. In November of 2016, America will most likely elect the first ever female president. If all goes according to plan
But history habitually has displayed an indifference to plans. And there are some significant differences between any other election and this one. For one, the amount of people going to the polls may be different. There are many who predict an historic amount on voters who will abstain from this general election. Hillary VS Trump does not sound appealing to many. If you put both together they have amassed nearly 50% of the nation with their disapproval. Many Americans feel as if they are choosing the lesser of two evils.
The future of Trump solely relies on how he plays his cards in these coming months. He has not released a single attack ad against Clinton while her campaign is rolling in the tanks and blasting him and his personal life. This is proving to be highly effective thus far and many believe it will catapult her past him to the White House.
What's Wrong With Trump?
Trump is one of the most outspoken politicians in US History. And I'm not here to attack him. But we need to look at the facts and realize there is something very dangerously wrong with him. According to the National Review they have used Trump's policies in a simulation and that it would be catastrophic: "A President Trump would also move quickly on global trade. He would utilize executive orders to effectively scrap trade deals, nullifying decades of trade negotiations. In retaliation, major trade partners including China, Mexico, and Canada would raise their own trade barriers. China would begin selling American debt on the open market, understanding that American economic growth decreases the possibility of bond repayment. In response, Trump would buy up bonds on the global market, inflating the dollar. Recession would be the inevitable result. In response, Trump would probably fall back on taxing the rich, given his stated preference for lashing out at hedge-fund managers and high-income earners. As a consequence, investment would stall." To read the full article click: HERE
The most dangerous part of a Trump presidency would be international relations. As a hot-tempered man, he is dangerously incoherent. Relations with leaders across the world would be destroyed and our repute would be decimated. His policies would isolate us from the rest of the world, and our 'independence' would be met with disastrous ends. The UN would punish us, and Trump would go to war against a global community. He would violate the Geneva conventions. His proposals for mass deportations are absurd and mass deportations always have led to violations of human rights. His economic policy mirrors those similar to the Weimar Republic.
A Trump presidency would usher in a chaotic ultra-conservative era that would meet a grisly demise. But why are we even saying this? Because Trump's views are dangerously radical. And his supporters are dangerously incoherent. Let's take a look on his views about major issues in America.
Trump's Views And Fortune.
In an interview with journalist Larry King in 1999, Trump described himself as "very liberal when it comes to health care." He embraced "universal healthcare," which many conservatives see as code for another big government entitlement program. However, in only 2016, Trump opposed the concept entirely. In an interview in the mid 1990s he said he was pro-choice and "very against the concept of abortion" Then he steadily opposed it. He at one point said Clinton was a fine woman who was doing a wonderful job. Now he slams her as an incompetent floozie. He stated President Obama was amazing and now he states he is "the worst president" in US history.
The point is, Trump has a long history of flip-flopping on issues and he seems to now gravitate to extremist conservative views that appeal to the lowest common denominator. The silent majority is a cesspool of conservative extremist that exemplify not only dangerous, but incoherent ignorant attributes.
Donald Trump has been directly involved in over 3,500 lawsuits. This is where he has made a bulk of his fortune. By suing he has amassed a fortune of over 4 billion dollars. His inheritance also adds more. The net worth of Donald Trump is actually quite low physically. While is assets give him billions, he himself only has $230,000,000 in his own physical stash.
In conclusion.
Trump does exemplify everything that is wrong with the U.S. today. His views and his rise to fame are both sleazy and suspicious. He is a fraud, a liar, a misogynist, a racist, a cheat, he has built his empire by defrauding people, he is high strung, and his supporters are an incoherent batch of racists and radical conservatives. A Trump presidency would only result in a divided one. And that's something we just don't need.
