With the upcoming presidential election a few days away, the latest polls indicate the candidates remain in a virtual tie. There is a reasonable chance Trump could get reelected. What a remarkable thing to write or even think. Let’s be clear, Trump has run an extraordinarily poor campaign. His abject vulgarity knows no limit. And his rally speeches offer an incomprehensible mélange of non-sequiturs he refers to as “the weave”, a vain and deceitful attempt to describe his rambling presentation as coherent. Every day, Trump says or does something that would destroy anyone else’s candidacy. Yet here we are, on the verge of an election still too close to call.
Here is a profound mistake we make about Trump: he is not running a political campaign. He has no interest in doing so. This explains why his speeches only contain mindless slogans and endless insults, and why he remained an indifferent campaigner this fall, spending many days without a single public appearance. Rather than organizing a campaign, Trump produces a reality TV show where he gets to be the director and star. Trump fashions himself as an entertainer, a vulgar insult comedian like Don Rickles on steroids.
Trump will say and do anything he imagines will boost his ratings. And here is the sad truth: his strategy has been very effective. Audiences laugh when Trump is vulgar. They cheer when he insults his opponent or makes ominous comments about acts of political violence. And they are amused by his nonsensical stories. Far too many Americans find all this entertaining.
Of course, as Trump presents his vulgar “shtick”, the sordid, despicable truth about his character and behavior gets lost. He defamed the woman he sexually assaulted, he committed widespread fraud in his business, he stole top secret documents and hid them in his bathroom, he fomented a political insurrection at the Capitol Building that threatened the life of his vice president, Nancy Pelosi and other congressmen and women and did nothing to stop the violence on January 6th, he pressured Georgia officials to find him votes so he could overturn Biden’s victory in that state, he lied about losing the 2020 election and still denies the result.
Donald Trump has taken a wrecking ball to the political heart of our cherished democracy: the existence of a free press, the belief in the sanctity of free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power. But the polls indicate that for too many Americans, none of it matters.
But here is my hope. At critical historical moments, the American public has made the right choice. Think of the 1860 election as the nation trembled on the brink of Civil War and elected Abraham Lincoln. Or the 1932 election, when Franklin Roosevelt became president during the Great Depression. This is the most consequential election of our lifetime. How will we respond? Will we greenlight Trump’s abhorrent and dangerous reality TV show for another chaotic season? Or will we decide he does not have the moral or intellectual stature to become president again? My gut tells me that in a few short days, we will elect an African American woman to become the most powerful leader in the world. It’s about time. America let’s do this.
Neal Aponte, Ph.D.
Editor of Delano