Donald Trump is a fascist whose ace in the hole (he hopes) is whipping up furor against Them — foreigners, immigrants (nominally illegal) and internal enemies such as women, minorities and Americans of Color. As Ta-Nehisi Coates says, “Donald Trump is a democratic phenomenon, and that there are actual people—not trolls under a bridge—whom he, and his prejudices against Latinos, Muslims, and blacks, represent.” That was from 2016; LGM points out it’s still true today. And he’s still a fascist. Who wishes he had completely obedient generals like Hitler.
A significant chunk of white Americans (also straight, male and Christian) seethes with resentment their standing at the apex of the social hierarchy is no longer secure. Of course, a lot of them were never close but being able to look at the apex and see an endless summit composed of white men was almost as good: even if your life sucked, someone just like you was running the country! You were part of the elite! I suspect this is why that cliche about how Americans see themselves not as poor but as inconvenienced future millionaires came to be.
When I was born, whiteness and maleness were largely “unmarked” in the sense they had no demographic significance. Sure, every president and every Supreme Court justice had been male but that was just the way it was. Corrupt NRA head Wayne LaPierre could refer in 2015 to Obama and Hilary Clinton as “demographically symbolic” without thinking there was anything demographically significant in advocating a white male for the presidency (he may also have known better and been lying).
As time goes on, it becomes more obvious that white and male dominance are choices not default settings. For people who want to believe the classic social hierarchy of the 1950s was somehow normal and that it’s POC and women’s success that’s unfair, that’s an unpleasant realization. There’s no reason whites or men should be on top of the pile and a lot of sexists and bigots struggle to bury their awareness of that. Hence Trump’s appeal.
Never mind that Trump racks up what should be disqualifying scandals as easily as Harris breathes. Never mind that getting rid of immigrants would cut off our nose to spite our face. Or what widespread tariffs on imports would do to the economy. Trump is the candidate of white male grievance and Christian dominance and that’s what matters to many of his voters. And all the rest are willing to put up with it, some in the delusion that the leopards won’t eat their faces. He’s a crook but his promise to his followers is that they’ll be part of the crime ring — It’s the others who’ll be screwed over/denied their rights/deported.
Similarly, Republican officials and politicians who still support Trump are all in. Republican National Committee lawyer Christina Bobb wants Trump to cleanse the country of filth. California Republican Denise Aguilar Mendez claimed in 2019 that shutdowns of the California power grid were to stop Jews trafficking children. Fox News hosts think its fine. More mainstream media outlets are soft-pedaling the Nazi aspect.
A second Trump term would be much more than a matter of white male supremacy. The consummate crybaby Donald Trump will have no problems retaliating against everyone he thinks has hurt his precious fee-fees, now and in the future. As Greg Sargent says, “”There is no GOP governor in the US that fears Harris’ presidency on the grounds that if something bad happens to their states, the federal government will abandon them.” Trump has already said federal aid might be cut off in disasters if you don’t obey him.
And that includes retaliating against critics or anyone who doesn’t spout the party line — JD Vance has said that simply not covering Hunter Biden’s infamous (and unimportant) laptop enough, was election interference that denied Trump victory in 2020.
And there’s no bottom. We already have Indiana Senator Mike Braun saying Loving, the Supreme Court decision legalizing interracial marriage was wrong — it should have been left up to the states. Jared Kushner’s firm is building a monument in Serbia to victims of NATO aggression. And the owner of the Los Angeles Times wouldn’t let the paper endorse Harris.
I take a petty satisfaction knowing these weeks are miserable for The Felon. He’s old and tired. He might lose to a black woman, in which case he’s looking at serious legal problems. He’s no longer commanding the media’s attention as effectively as he used to and he keeps getting called on his lies. He’s being criticized and he hates it. And none of his usual tactics, such as whining, lying and threatening are working. That’s got to be hell.
For which reason he’ll be twice as vicious if he takes office. Because nothing’s more evil in his eyes than not getting what he wants or people hurting widdle baby Donny’s fee-fees. Alternatively he’ll be too dfeeble and Vance will take over more and more of the day to day stuff, which would not be good. Elon Musk may have similar fantasies about being puppet-master.
Almost a decade ago, John Scalzi wrote that not all Trump supporters were white supremacists but they were willing to tolerate white supremacists. At this point anyone who’s supporting Trump is willing to tolerate fascism if they get what they want (male dominance, Christian dominance, end to abortion, whatever). I suspect now that they’re committed, they’ll tolerate a lot more.
Vote. Early. Absentee. On the day. Whichever way works, do it. It’s going to matter. A lot.
