Donald Trump is going to win the presidential election for a second term in office in 2020.
It is a reality that does violence to the sensibilities of many good people, young and old, not only in the United States, but in many countries of the world.
To many people observing the world’s leading Democracy, the events of the past five years or so have provided a source of endless puzzlement. In the beginning there was a man who was said to be unsuitable for political office by any of the criteria usually employed to determine these matters, according to those who knew about such matters. Although he was rich, he lacked social graces. He was crude and uncouth. He had no language, no gift of the garb – that great facility that seemed to be one of the hallmarks of American leadership, exemplified most recently by Presidents such as Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
He often took liberties with the truth, as a matter of course. In plain language, he was a serial and unrepentant liar, who, caught out in one lie, would simply replace it with another. From many of his pronouncements, and some of the causes he got involved in, such as the disreputable “birther” controversy around the place of birth of President Barack Obama, the first black President of America, it could be discerned that he was racist in his inner core, despite the fact that he flaunted friendships with some black celebrities, such as golfer Tiger Woods, the rap musician Kanye West, and flamboyant boxing promoter Don King. There were unsavoury rumours surrounding the size and source of his wealth and the manner of his business operations, and there was always more than a hint of scandal and crooked behaviour surrounding him and the people close to him.
That he went on to win the election is now a matter of history. In the process he appeared not only to rewrite the rule books, but to tear them up entirely.
Almost immediately after his election victory, the search began for meaning and explanation for what had just happened to the soul of America.
Logical answers have been sought to the question “How did Donald Trump win an election he was never meant to win?”
Experts have talked about the strange behaviour of the CIA director who wrote a bizarre letter to Congress about what would turn out to be a meaningless investigation into the Democratic Party’s candidate’s email account. There was talk that that helped to push the Trump horse across the finish line. The CIA director himself, initially lauded by candidate Trump for his patriotism, would become one of the first casualties to end up in the belly of the monster he might have helped to birth.
To many, the adoption of Trump by the religious leaders as a champion of Christian virtue and way of life was laughable. This was no epitome of Christian virtue. This was a man whose deep characterological flaws were on display every day
There were other explanations of the Trump phenomenon. There was the “Trump base” – a Rust Belt populated with disaffected white working-class people who felt marginalised in an increasingly pluralistic America. There were border communities worried about unregulated immigration and the swamping of “true Americans” by “aliens.” There were out and out racists who were on the rebound from the Obama interregnum and believed that the white man needed to take back America.
Then there were the Evangelicals – the powerful collection of Bible-thumping tele-evangelists and other Pentecostal ministers who ministered to large congregations and positioned themselves as the avatars and defenders of an unabashedly Christian USA.
To many, the adoption of Trump by the religious leaders as a champion of Christian virtue and way of life was laughable. This was no epitome of Christian virtue. This was a man whose deep characterological flaws were on display every day.
Perhaps the critics should not have been so blithe in their dismissal of the impact of the Evangelicals. Perhaps they should have paid more attention to the issues that constituted the reason for their romance with Donald Trump. Perhaps, in fact, far from being the “lunatic fringe” of the Trump base, the Pentecostals were the solid backbone around which the Trump superstructure hung, and the guarantee that he would win again in 2020, come what might.
For those “old” issues remain fresh and raw, and they go to the very essence of the modern democratic society in America and even the larger world.
In a recent interview on CNN, a mystified anchor asked why the Christian ministers were still solidly behind Donald Trump, who had now clearly proved himself a deeply amoral and totally unworthy human being in the public space. The answer from the Pentecostal Minister in front of her was quick. God used flawed vessels to achieve his ends – the Bible was replete with examples. Somebody had to stand up and draw the line on Abortion. And the matter of LGBTQ – well, you only had to refer to Sodom and Gomorrah, it was futile to rewrite the dictate of the Bible. How much freedom was too much freedom? Somebody was standing up here – yes, Donald Trump.
The respondent added one final, shocking line. These were End-Times, predicted long ago, she said. Many in her flock were expecting “The Rapture” in 2050. America needed a strong leader who would truly lead the world. These, she said, were the views, not of extremists, but many mainstream Americans, who would not dare discuss their feelings in public for fear of being howled down by the mob but would express themselves in the privacy of the voting booth, again.
It is interesting that these matters, which are not the subject of polite conversation, and which will not appear in the press, because they are not “woke”, may well determine who wins the next election, as they did the last. Of course, a strong Economy, and even a possible war with Iran, will help the Trump cause further, as will the obvious absence of credible opposition.
It is all, as they say, a sign of the times.
