With the Republican primary drawing closer, a number of Republican challengers have doubled their efforts for the GOP by heavily campaigning in states such as New Hampshire and Iowa. Despite this Mr. Trump’s involvement in legal matters, this has not stopped him from going to and speaking at rallies to gain support for the primary.
Based on polls conducted by CBS News, Mr. Trump leads with 44% favorability in New Hampshire and 58% in Iowa, a notable gap that his potential competitors Ms. Haley and Mr. Desantis is trying to close.
This situation is a good example of front loading, as it is evident that incumbents and new challengers concentrate and dedicate efforts on influencing voters in states with early primaries such as New Hampshire and Iowa. In addition, the widespread support for Mr. Trump within the Republican party even after making these controversial remarks emphasizes the significant influence Mr. Trump has the cult of personality that he built around him to convince these people.
As these comments are associated with a former president seeking re-election with substantial support, it raises questions into the role individuals play in representing their own country and the extent to which dehumanizing language is acceptable.
7 comments:
I agree with Jake's comment on Trump's cult of personality, which I think is especially important to note during this election; I think there's a common phenomenon that occurs during times of change such as these, given the chaos of world events and the transition out of the pandemic: people tend to combat turmoil by grounding themselves in identities, one of which includes the MAGA voter identity. This might sound a bit speculative, but it's observable throughout American history, particularly in the evolution of the Southern identity from Dolley Madison (who represents the emergence of the Southern lady/First Lady amidst the chaos of the War of 1812 + establishing America) to the children of the Lost Cause (who grew up amidst a war-torn South), who raised today's neo-Confederates (who are grappling with modern sectional polarization).
History rant aside, I like how Jake included several of Trump's more extremist and alarming quotes. Trump's accusations towards Biden ("'Joe Biden is a threat to democracy' to darker comments such as 'They’re poisoning the blood of our country… they’re coming into our country, from Africa, from Asia, all over the world'") follow the claims made in the Superman article we read last week: Republicans like Trump depict America as far worse than it truly is to boost their candidacy, especially with a Democratic incumbent.
But that doesn't account for Trump's purported admiration for dictators like Kim Jong Un... and the fact that he's leading by a great margin in the polls is concerning. I'm hoping that this is just part of his candidate persona as opposed to a hint at the goals of his future administration should he be elected.
like him or hate him, you have to admit trump is pretty smart. He's probably one of the least politically knowledgable candidates, one of the least relatable people when you consider his past and current social status, and yet, so many people love him, and not by mistake. It feels like he can say whatever he wants and half of the country will agree with him no matter what. I think people need to learn to think for themselves and form their own political positions based off of their own findings and values instead of agreeing with someone who is charismatic.
I agree with what Owen said, and I think it would be disastrous if people continue to blindly follow Trump. With his recent comments about being a dictator and him admiring other dictators, I think it would be pretty concerning if he were to get reelected. One thing I don't get is why the other candidates, besides Chris Christie, have refused to go against Trump. With a lot of voters feeling like they aren't being properly represented by either Trump or Biden, why won't Haley or DeSantis go against Trump? Wouldn't that appeal to more voters?
I think the quote "They're poisoning the blood of our country...all over the world" is somewhat questionable because people immigrating to the U.S. from everywhere in the world has been such a common and tolerated event throughout American history, and that's why America is so diverse in the first place. The "blood" of our country is multi-racial and derived from the outside, so it's hard to imagine immigrants would be "poisoning" it. I also found it interesting how Trump praised Viktor Orban and Kim Jong Un because it contrasts starkly with Biden's way of words when it comes to describing dictators. Right after Biden and Xi Jinping's meeting in Filoli, Biden called him a dictator, which he obviously is, but that sparked a lot of negative reaction, especially from Anthony Blinken (Secretary of State) and obviously from China. This is probably because although it's true, calling Xi a dictator right after having a meeting with him about potential cooperation and reconciling of differences is not a smart idea. Maybe getting on the good side of a cruel dictator or at least gaining their respect has some good end value that justifies the means, even if its a plainly immoral thing to do. Or maybe, presidents should be neutral and neither praise nor call them out. But there are implications to all stances.
I would agree with the fact that Trump is a good politician in the sense that he skewed the the definition of what a politician is to be more of a celebrity figure rather than a person who pushes policies that the people want. Many people don't actually know what Trump supports policy wise, and just blindly follow his charismatic nature because he is "cool". I also find his xenophobic nature to be completely disgusting, and only reinforces the racist nature of his followers. He is also the kind of saying absolutely nothing. He'll say something like "can you believe what is going on in our country/border?", but then refuses to elaborate if you ask for any specific details on anything -> the usual response is "go look online it's everywhere". He will make some generic statement and have his MAGA fans fill in the blanks for him and come up with their own conclusion. This is how misinformation and irrational American exceptionalism is perpetuated, and it's really sad to think that hundreds of thousands take Trump's words at face value and treat it as truth.
I believe It's pretty ironic that Trump would accuse President Biden of as a "threat to democracy”, when during the end of his single term in office, He continually wouldn't admit that he had lost the election to Biden, and his sore loser mentality was the main reason for the horrible January 6th attack on the capitol. Which was considered by many to be a threat to democracy. In terms of how he's campaigning, I just don't see anyone else in the republican party that can dethrone him as the Republican nominee. As said in the article, I believe that his cult "fanbase" and supporters are just too overwhelming and loyal for other candidates such as Desantis or Haley to sway over.
I find it pretty shocking that people continue to support Trump through all the convictions and indictments that have been going on recently. It shows people's true characters in the sense that at this point they aren't really going after the political intent and goodness of something but they are agreeing with him because they want someone to follow and they just like his persona moreover his political decisions. It also shows how much more likely incumbents are really re-elected which we have learnt about in Mr. Siltons class. I agree with Owen, it really does feel as though Trump could say whatever he wanted to and disrespect thousands of communities and people would still follow him like he was a religious leader or something.
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