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Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, The Print
The political achievement of the US presidential election is not who won. Rather, it will have an impact on the politics of other democracies in the world, including the US and India, in the future, how did Donald Trump gain nearly 50% of the popular vote?
There are many questions as well – how about 7 crore American people voted for a man who is considered to be a prankster, freak, greedy, corrupt, sexual, taxish, and a person who weakened the country and dominated America as a superpower Lost to China? Did anyone think that Trump would make the contest so strong that despite the epidemic, so many voters would come out to vote? We often hear the question that what has happened to us Americans?
Imagine that Corona did not attack the world, and Trump did not compete poorly in America. Then would they not have won this election riding on a tremendous 'Red Wave'? Trump took the challenge of the epidemic very lightly. Nevertheless, far from America's metros, city-by-city, village-by-village, especially in the 'Red' strip of America, people in the worst-hit states and counties have been outnumbered in the past and voted for Trump Granted, those Trump called his proclaimed tyrants?
We are saying this because the most important outcome of this election is that it underscores the strong tendency in many democracies that if a lofty leader has the skill to instill the resentment insecurity of the majority in them If injustice is done to him, he can build an impregnable fort for himself. An example of this can be seen as a minority occultism rooted in the Hindus of India. Like Narendra Modi, Trump also fisted a right-wing conservative party and adapted its ideology and agenda to the dimensions of his personality.
Talking about the lessons learned from Trump and his political successes, America is now seeing the emergence of a new ideology, that is Trumpism. Despite their defeat, they are not going to be lost like the former traditional presidents of America, because they have nothing traditional to do with them. They have no connection as a political phenomenon. You have to accept his legacy, not only in America. Leaders of democracies around the world can learn from them. Republicans are not going to come out of his shadow easily.
Scholars in the US and Western media have failed to fully assess the effects of Trumpism, despite many political experiences and scholarship, as many in India have failed to understand Modiism. Is it because we are still not free from the notion that the only way to win the election is to improve the conditions of the people. Didn't Bill Clinton say that 'this is a matter of economy, brother!' If this is the case, why did Modi come back with an even greater majority in 2019 when the economy was in trouble? Or how Trump got so many votes the day the second highest number of Corona infections occurred in Trump's country?
Try to reverse this question. Admittedly, you cannot improve the condition of your people, but can you give him a feeling of 'feel good'? Here sensitive, emotional aspects related to culture, religion and identity come to the fore. Today, it is winning in democratic politics in all countries. That is why we are listening to the mediums like Emanuel Macron speaking such a speech. Increasing awareness of their rights is promoting this populist rhetoric.
Just think of what words CNN's famous anchor Anderson Cooper used for Trump – a fat turtle lying flat on the beach in the sun. Do you know what Trump's supporters think about this comment? Of course they consider this to be proof that what Trump says about the nobility is right. It is just like English-speaking people here in India make fun of Modi that he cannot write the word 'strength' spelled correctly in English. His joking makes the base of Modi's supporters, which is built on cultural identity and hatred for oligarchy, more loyal to him. By the way, Trump has been mocked a million times more than Modi, not only among the whispers, but openly. So, by now you must have understood why about half of America, which includes a large fraction of the workers, went out to vote for Trump. (These are the author's own views)
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