Trump held a big rally at Madison Square Garden yesterday. All indications are that it did a great job of stoking the flames of the politics of Us versus Them.
Some headlines of relevance.
- Via Politico: Trump’s New York homecoming sparks backlash over racist and vulgar remarks.
- Via CNN: Trump unveils the most extreme closing argument in modern presidential history
- Via the NYT: Trump at the Garden: A Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny and Racism.
- NPR’s report on Morning Edition today is quite a contrast: Trump and Harris campaigns concentrate on swing voters in the homestretch.
- And I fear that this, from the Daily Beast, is wishful thinking: Donald Trump’s Racist NYC Rally Was Vile. It Was Also Political Suicide.
Where to start?
How about “comedy” time?
That’s Tony Hinchcliffe, whose website describes him as a “world-renowned comedian.” He apparently tours with Joe Rogan. He is also a podcaster. I think I have heard his name before, but that’s about it.
He went on Twitter not long after his comments went viral to complain that it was just a “joke,” stating that “these people have no sense of humor.”
But, of course, labeling a US territory populated by Hispanics as “literally a floating island of garbage” is unlikely to be funny to many people, the least of which being Puerto Ricans. Moreover, such language is clearly racially coded and fits into Trump’s broadening “othering” language.
And of course, as Ben Meiselas notes, Trump has been talking a lot about garbage of late in the contest of immigration.
And there is this screeching from Stephen Miller that fits the theme (the second Tweet):
By the way, understand how Miller’s rhetoric would be appealing to a lot of listeners, as well as. I mean, I get it: if the gangs, cartels, and “criminal migrants” are all “gone,” who would argue with that? But, of course, one suspects that to Miller pretty much all migrants from the south are “criminal migrants.” Even if we assume that he is fine with non-criminal migrants (spoiler: he isn’t), then we know that all of this talk about crime and the border is part of a broad othering that is linked to other fascistic rhetoric from Trump and his supporters that I have recently noted.
At a minimum, the fear-mongering (Rudy’s Palestinian bit) and racist-coded/misogynistic (e.g., the Black woman has “pimp handlers”) language was strong.
Or she might just be the devil.
And as Rupar noted on the attached Tweets (that I cannot avoid for some reason), the valorization of Trump based on the assassination attempt, and the nebulous usage of “they” is very much part of the politics of “us v. them” that is at the core of fascistic politics.
Indeed, it is hard to listen to these clips and not see what Stanley noted in his book, How Fascism Works. “In the rhetoric of the extreme nationalist, such a glorious past has been lost by the humiliation brought on by globalism, liberal cosmopolitanism, and respect for ‘universal values’ such as equality” (4).
The whole “garbage” thing above fits, especially the notion that people from the outside (immigrants, Palestinians, etc.) are a range to “us.”
And on the front of degrading values such as “equality,” we get this:
The whole thing is a non sequitur, insofar as concerns about diversity, equity, and inclusion are not antithetical to hard work. But, of course, the mythology is needed that people with jobs and wealth got there solely because of hard work and so things like DEI (and affirmative action before it) are simply designed to help lazy persons of color get ahead when they don’t deserve it.
So, look, on the one hand, campaign rallies can be weird and will certainly be off-putting to opposing partisans. But all this (and more) is well beyond that. The valorization of Trump in a thoroughly unhealthy way, it is full of racist attacks, and it is, above all else, very much the politics of Us versus Them.
One last one from Tucker.
Trust me, I don’t trust Tucker.
Hey, Tucker, this you? Remarkably, Tucker also claimed that Trump had liberated him from having to tell lies. I will say, he is making an effective rhetorical appeal to stoke fear in the population. But, of course, it is more fascistic Us v. Them with a sprinkling of replacement theory to boot. The liberation of which he speaks is the ability of your racist uncle to be racist and feel like he has been freed from any criticisms for being such.
If Tucker feels “liberated” it is simply because he is free to spout his white nationalist garbage. And let’s not forget the ironic fact that he lost his job at Fox News for lying about the 2020 elections.
(And if anything thinks RFK, Jr. should be anywhere near health care policy…well, ugh).
BTW, worth noting.
The depressing part about all of this is that there is a substantial percentage of the country that loves and buys it all. And then there is another large slice that ignores all this nonsense because they can’t fathom voting for the other team.
Bonus Clip.
Let me note this Mike Johnson clip, if anything to make the following observation: I guarantee you that “your father’s Democratic Party” was also being accused of being Marxist. So, at a minimum, his rhetoric is close to “normal.” It does contain the typical lazy lack of ability to figure out whether to call them “Marxists” or “socialists.”
