How could America be so stupid as to elect Donald Trump not once but twice as President? - David Behrens
To have elected an incoherent, philandering tax cheat not once but twice has left the rest of the world open mouthed. But America doesn’t see this. The world’s most powerful democracy is also the most inward-looking – and, let’s not pretend otherwise, the most stupid.
The litany of allegations against Trump ought to have made him not just unelectable but unconscionable. He has been indicted four times for business fraud, election interference and keeping classified documents. He may yet serve part of his second term in prison.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdHe has no respect for reality and no concept of truth. In the last leg of the campaign he made at least 40 separate false claims in just two speeches. He pandered to America’s basest, most violent instincts. He accused newly arrived citizens of eating their pets. And rather than debating the issues, he spent his final rallies humming along to the background music like a petulant child.


So how could so many Americans have failed to see him as the rest of the world did? What was it about him they considered admirable? Did he radiate the qualities they saw and liked in themselves?
There may be a clue in something one of his supporters told a British reporter covering the rallies. “Trump will bolster our reputation overseas,” said the interviewee, without irony (for Americans know no irony). He believed it because it was what pro-Trump networks like Fox News had told him. Abe Lincoln could not have foreseen the narcotic effect television would have on the masses.
Even in victory, Trump was graceless and vindictive, referring to the media – the part of it that remained objective – as the enemy camp. A few days earlier he had said he didn’t mind if another would-be assassin had to shoot his way through the ranks of reporters to reach him.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdSo – he likes the media when it works in his favour but thinks it expendable when it does not. It’s as if Dr Goebbels was feeding him the words on a hotline from hell.
The Nazi subtext was not lost on David Lammy, our own Foreign Secretary, who has called Trump a Ku Klux Klan sympathiser and “a tyrant in a toupee” but who must now work with him on preserving the informal alliance between Britain and the US. We still consider it a ‘special relationship’ but few in Trump’s White House will see it that way. To them, Britain is just another bargaining chip, along with NATO, Ukraine and every part of the Middle East.
For despite our more-or-less shared language there is now more that separates than unites us. We, for instance, still think it objectionable for politicians to accept gifts that might lead them to favouritism – as when Tony Blair took a donation from the Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone while a ban on tobacco advertising was in the offing.
But that was small change compared to the industrialised grift that has gone on in the US.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe most shameless influencer has been Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter and the world’s wealthiest person by some margin. He used to support Joe Biden but having seen which side his bread was now buttered, gifted Trump with algorithms that skewed the ‘news’ feeds of millions of users away from stories harmful to him. Even more brazenly, he ran a $1m lottery to procure votes in marginal states.
As his reward, Musk will now become one of Trump’s most powerful advisers, with influence over American policy on AI, space exploration and electric cars – all of which he has business interests in. It makes the row over Keir Starmer’s new glasses look like a tantrum in a toy shop.
But it is our perception of Trump himself that exposes the most profound difference between our two nations. He is venal and amoral, narcissistic and petty; none of this is in dispute. Four years ago he tried to overthrow the government and made no apology. We in Britain – and most of the rest of the world – deplore and ridicule him but America applauds him. They knew what he was and they voted for him anyway. In 2016 they could claim to have been gullible; this time they were compliant.
The result is that rational Americans are now a minority – and a nation to which we once looked up has made itself almost a rogue state.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWe used to fantasise about an election like this. Remember the Monty Python sketch in which the Sensible Party took on the Silly Party? We laughed because we knew it was too preposterous ever to happen. We’re not laughing now.
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.