Back in 2016, the people at Displaced Nation asked me and a few others about the election of Donald Trump. Now that MAGAmouth has his dainty little hands on the keys to the White House once again, I’ve been looking back at my reaction. This was my take at the time…
I first heard about Donald Trump’s victory on the morning news here in Britain. It was a wake-up call, but after Brexit, not entirely unexpected. I think we all know that both outcomes are a symptom of something deeper and more socially corrosive. There are a lot of people out there who feel marooned in poverty with little hope of rescue, including members of my own family. So it was okay to bail out the bankers but not the steelworkers? Really? If I was a praying man, I’d be on my knees hoping that Trump will be less incendiary in office than he has been on the podium, but I wouldn’t bet my shirt on it. Stoking up the darkest fears of those at the bottom of the heap is what got him elected. How a man born to enormous privilege can possibly understand the worries of the common man or woman is beyond me. But then I don’t understand the appeal of former merchant banker Nigel Farage, either.
So here we go again, another white knuckle ride on the magic roundabout of make-believe with Don the Con. But this time a posse of kiss-his-arse social media moguls and assorted tax-dodging billionaires are hanging on to his coat-tails. I wonder why?