Possibly behind a paywall, but Fintan O’Toole has the lead essay in the NY Review of Books in their Feb 25 issue, titled "The Trump Inheritance". In that inimitable NYRB erudite yet readable way, he lays out the case for Trump initially feeling around for what political slant would sell (he proposed Oprah Winfrey as his running mate 1st time around) and really only stumbled accidentally on the themes of white supremacy and nativism, upon which he really caught fire. Since he never had any particular beliefs of his own, only narcissism in search of idolizers, he had no trouble saying exactly what they needed him to.
O’Toole’s essay is about the force behind the sacking of the Capitol, and how Trump was always a figurehead, never a leader. The imperative belief, which has not been diminished in any way, is that the country only belongs to them, no one else has any right to a voice, to a ‘place at the table’, nothing. When they cried, in the midst of the carnage “this is OUR house”, they meant it quite literally. Everything should belong to them, and nothing to anyone else.
He also cogently discusses why issues are easily forgotten or changed, why lies, even utterly preposterous lies, don’t make any difference at all to them. They simply do not care about truth with a small t, or any particular issues, except as current hate-rallying points. They only care about this one thing.
His essay is powerful, convincing, and frightening. This ethos has always been part of the makeup of the culture of the US. You could say that the basic tension throughout our history is about whose voices are recognized as legitimate. As the number of different constituencies enabled to be heard grows, the white supremacists become more and more furious. Since the fury does not arise from rationality, Christian dogma, or ordinary moral decency, none of those can get any purchase on it.
I could only see part of this piece behind the paywall, but I found another piece. Good stuff.
“This is his legacy: he has successfully led a vast number of voters along the path from hatred of government to contempt for rational deliberation to the inevitable endpoint: disdain for the electoral process itself…
Trump has unfinished business. A republic he wants to destroy still stands. It is, for him, not goodbye but hasta la vista. Instead of waving him off, those who want to rebuild American democracy will have to put a stake through his heart.”
I’ll just mention that birtherism predated Trump’s running for president. Also, he lost a case involving discrimination in rentals to Blacks. So racism comes naturally to him.
But the main point that white supremacy is deeply buried in the American psyche is correct. I recall reading (where?, don’t remember) about a guy dying of cancer asked if he didn’t wish the government had paid for his care. He said no, because he didn’t want his taxes paying health care for those people.
It’s both. His not a virulent racist, just a “lazy racist”. Someone that has certain knee-jerk racist positions and has no interest in evaluating those positions critically or having them brought to his attention. But he doesn’t seem to be a hard-core white nationalist or anything. But his primary concern in all matters when judging people is whether they support him or not.
He’s racist. Black people who tried to rent in his buildings had a “C” put on their applications so they could be flagged for denial. When he wanted to visit the floor of his casino, they first had to get all the black workers out of sight. And let’s not forget that he made his start in politics by being an outspoken birther.
I read a description once of what it means to be a consummate salesman. It’s someone who can read the person they’re interacting with and innately tell what they want and who they are. If making a racist joke will get you on their good side, they’ll do it; and the buyer will be just a little bit more likely to pay $500 more for rustproofing when it comes time to close the deal.
That’s my impression of Trump. He saw how many people were talking about Obama’s birth certificate and he wanted those people on his side. I don’t think Trump knows where Obama was born, or cares.
His life is a sales pitch. His goal is popularity. That’s why he was so successful on Twitter; he thinks in #hashtags.
Not quite true. He did try to get the Reform Party nomination for President in 2000. I don’t know if that was his earliest attempt at politics, but it certainly predates the birtherism.