The Presidential Race 2024 : Is Trumpism taking over America?

As the US Presidential Election 2024 is entering its final stretch, we are witnessing the most historic, polarized and unprecedented election in the history where the stakes couldn't be higher. If we start looking at the chain of events reaching to the end of the election, it's just unparalleled compared to any previous election.

On June 16 2015 , a billionaire businessmen and real state mogul famous for developing high profile properties and business ventures across hotels, casinos, golf courts and a famous TV personality known for TV show 'Apprentice', Donald John Trump announced to run for the 2016 Presidential Election. Some media analyst laughed, some said it's a publicity stunt and some just rejected it straight off. No one took him seriously, not even his own Republican Party(a right wing, conservative party known for anti-immigration, free market,anti abortion, extremely pro gun rights and beliefs in family and traditional values[just consider it BJP of US with change of topics]) and also there is no reason to believe because at that time he had  literally zero experience of politics and had directly entered into the arena to run to become 'world most powerful person'. Then started the Republican Primary debates(the series of debates held between candidates of their own party to seek nomination from it), and he just shook everyone, not by exemplifying great knowledge and vision about America but by breaking from normal political norms with his controversial, blunt,direct speaking style and stealing the spotlight from 'normal' candidates with his domineering style. He portrayed himself as an tough, no-nonsense anti-establishment candidate ready to 'Make America Great Again' and openly started criticizing the US invasion of Iraq which was in fact executed by George Bush(a Republican president) and in a matter of time became a 'entertaining' candidate for people and was all the over media overshadowing everyone with his unfiltered and provocative language. He called on to ban muslims from entering America, called Ted Cruz's (another candidate) wife ugly and looked like a dog, said Mexican immigrants are rapists and the list can go on forever. But this made him a charming, different, entertainer type candidate and the people who are fed up with normal politics saw a rising meteor who could bring 'Change' in politics.(Well 'Change' is a new word used by fascist around the globe to come to power). He easily won Republican party nomination and started his campaign against Hillary Clinton.The polls had consistently shown the lead of 3-4 points for Hillary Clinton (a democratic candidate which is a left liberal progressive party and believes in pro-choice,equality, social justice and capitalist system with govt intervention and appeals to minorities, women, young people[consider it as a Congress of US]) till election night and when the results started coming in, no one saw it could happen. Donald Trump won the election and a huge earthquake erupted which was seen as watershed moment in US politics and had reshaped dynamics in the US for generations.

A daughter of Indian mother and Jamaican father, Kamala Harris has a dramatic and a skyrocketing rise in her career. From becoming the first woman, the first African American and the first South Asian to become Attorney General of California in 2010, she had shown fantastic leadership  by tackling issues like consumer protection, drug cartel, environment protection etc. This success leads her to run and become a Senator(member of one of the houses of Congress i.e. Senate{just like Rajya Sabha} and another is the House of Representatives {just like Lok sabha}) of California in 2016. Then she ran for the 2020 Presidential Election but failed and then Joe Biden chose her to become his running mate. The victory of Joe Biden, a democratic candidate resulted in Kamala Harris becoming the first woman in every criteria to be Vice President of the USA. She had made a record by casting 33 tie breaking votes, most by any VP in history resulted in passing various legislations. However she was heavily criticized for failing to tackle immigration problems.

Well the Trump presidency was one of the most entertaining, controversial and polarized in US history. He became 'Liar-in-Chief'(according to The Washington Post, he lied almost 33000 times)during his term and became the first president to be impeached twice. Fast forward to 2020 results where every poll predicted a landslide victory for Joe Biden and showed the lead of 7-8 points. But election night again became dramatic, the results became nail biter as swing states(states which have gone both ways in the last 3-4 elections)were not showing any clear direction. But ultimately Joe Biden won the election but then what happened evolves 'Trumpism' ultimately. Trump refused to concede the election by alleging Democrats of voter fraud and rigging, the first time in US history. He had filed almost 60 lawsuits to challenge results but got dismissed by every court across the country. But he refused to accept and called on his supporters to 'fight like hell' to protect his country which resulted in the 'insurrection' of Capitol Hill by his mob of supporters on January 6 2020, the day Congress(US Parliament)certified election results. The brazen vandalism, looting,violence and intimidation by the mob resulted in death and injury of various people and was seen as the most brutal attack on American democracy. His supporters chanted slogans like 'Hang Mike Pence' who is Trump's VP and refused to sell his integrity and certified the results. This was all happening in the world's most powerful country's parliament, Congress. 

After all this chaos, America was navigating its way towards normalcy under the Joe Biden presidency. It was looking like 'Trump phenomenon' was over as he was charged with 4 criminal cases i.e. business fraud, hush money payment to porn-star, taking classified documents at Mar-a-Lago(his residence) and election interference as the tape went viral where he was explicitly asking for 11780 votes, one more than his margin of loss in Georgia over a phone call with Georgia secretary of state. Trump was found liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll was made to pay $5 million in damages and was also convicted on all 34 felony charges for falsifying business records, becoming the first ex-president to reach this milestone in US history. All these allegations could end up any political career within seconds but not of Donald Trump. These allegations made him even more stronger as he portrayed himself as attacked by an establishment which made him gain sympathy. A person who was considered an 'outsider' in 2016 has hijacked the entire Republican party. The policies, thoughts and ideas of Trump became equivalence to his party and anyone who tried to defy him on any matter faced severe consequences from losing influence to being ousted or isolated within party and loyalty to Trump became a major dynamic in Republican politics. He always knew the public was bored and frustrated from the old slow system, institutions and regular politicians and the void of abnormal politics was filled by a fantastic salesman and a demagogue who public thought could cause disruption. Trump used this platform to create a 'cult and mob' of blind supporters and mixed this with his radicalised and blunt thoughts, speeches and actions and an attitude of never accepting defeat no matter what happens. The portrayal of the lonely protector of 'American and Western civilization' by right wing media made him a 'messiah' among his fanbase.

Well, in the Biden presidency, America seems to recover well from Covid after the horror-show left by Trump and the economy was also getting on track with swift jobs recovery. However inflation which was controlled well under Trump was worsened and soared in the Biden term resulted in the price rise of daily goods, groceries, gas etc. And the immigration policy of 'Open border' was also heavily scrutinized as it resulted in an influx of millions of illegal immigrants in America which created a deep wreck in the Biden years.

On April 25, 2023, Biden officially announced his re-election bid and Trump also made it clear to run for president again making him only the second ex-president to run after losing the election. This time Trump didn't even bother to participate in primary debates of the Republic party and still won the nomination by a huge margin and all the other candidates ultimately withdrew from the race and endorsed Trump except Nikky Haley who lost to him pretty badly. While Biden who had already broken record of becoming oldest president of US at the age of 77 became more unhinged, struggles in walking properly, started blabbering and making word-salad in his speeches, on-camera seems to forget things and lose his trains of thoughts, looks confused and stumbles and lapses during public meetings. His age was taking a toll on him and his mental and cognitive decline was out in open and it became clearer with each passing day that he would run America from ICU if he again became president. But he was convinced that only he could defeat Trump and can break his record of being oldest president. Then the first presidential debate of 2024 race took place on June 27, 2024 between these two candidates and Biden's mental decline was brutally exposed as he lost badly due to his extremely poor performance and if we mix this with abnormal Trump's lying machine with strong punches on Biden's weakness with sarcasm, it became crystal clear that this fight could only move in one direction - Trump. Major democratic donors started withdrawing money from the race and cancelled any future donation which persuaded top Democratic party leadership to come into action led by the most powerful women politician of US history, Nancy Pelosi, former and only female speaker of the House of Representatives. She led a pretty effective and ruthless lobbying and pressure campaign behind the scenes which ultimately resulted in Biden stepping down from the race on July 21. Just a week before this event, on July 13, Donald Trump became a target of assassination attempt on him on a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The open fire from a nearby roof by a shooter injured Trump in his right ear and led to death of one rally attendee. Trump was immediately rescued by the Secret Service but before stepping out from the podium, he encouraged his supporters by raising fist and chanting 'Fight! Fight!'. This moment signified who Trump is - never accepting defeat and always ready to fight like hell. All these unprecedented chain of events reshaped the American politics for generations making it one of the most historic and chaotic political year and election euphoria is still not included in these events.

After Biden stepped down, he endorsed Kamala Harris, his VP, who then became the nominee of the Democratic party making it a race between Donald Trump who hates immigrants vs Kamala Harris who is a product of immigrants. There could not be more two stark candidates with regards to their policies, promises, history,ideas and worldview. In fact, it could be the first time in US elections where two candidates are not on the same page on literally a single topic. If we look at Kamala Harris and her party's stance and promises, they advocate for abortion rights i.e. pro choice which was a constitutional right given in landmark decision of Roe v Wade in 1973 until it was stripped away by conservative judges in 2022 and sent back to states to make law (In US, Supreme Court judges are appointed by President and three seats are left when Trump became President which he filled with conservatives). This might look like a silly issue from an Indian perspective but is in the top 3-4 key matters in this election and especially a riding issue for Democrats. She staunchly supports Ukraine against Russian invasion and promises to give military and humanitarian aid, supports Israel's right to defend itself in its war against Hamas but also emphasizes on minimising human casualties in Palestine with 2-state solution, proposes to impose tougher restrictions on illegal immigration by changing her stance of 'open border' policy, pledges to expand healthcare access including lowering prescription drug cost, tax relief for the middle class and increase rate for corporates, committing serious action to tackle climate change by cutting carbon emissions and shift to renewable energy and also proposes to impose tougher restrictions on gun-ownership and ban on assault weapon which are the biggest cause of childern death in US(in America you can literally go to any store and can purchase gun without showing any proof). As a progressive, she also fully supports rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

While Donald Trump, admirer of Vladimir Putin seems to support Russia in its annexation of Ukraine and said in one interview "He can do whatever the hell he wants" which is pretty shocking coming from leader of Republican Party which once was led by Ronald Reagan who referred Soviet Union as "evil empire" and were at forefront during Cold War. But as said earlier Trump=Republican. He has been a strong supporter of Israel and uses 'Palestine' as a slur to shame others and called Netanyahu to 'finish the job' which simply means flattening Gaza. He proposes to impose huge tariffs, rate ranges between 10% to 200% on all imports which could skyrocket inflation, promises to cut taxes again for corporates and rich in pursuit of 'trickle down' economy, echoing ending regulations on production and expanding fossil fuels production and fracking and promises not to do anything to protect environment as he considers climate change as 'hoax'. The judges appointed by him struck down Roe v Wade but this time he has toned down his rhetoric on abortion rights and said to support abortions in case of rape,incest and death but it is a fact that all the Republican governed states banned abortions or put tougher restrictions on it(some even put sentences from 10 years of jail to hundred of dollars in penalty). He also ensured Americans to protect gun rights, promised to deport around 12 million undocumented immigrants and will put the strictest immigration policies. His stance on LGBTQ+ rights has also been dubious as supporting them in his speeches but weakening of protection under the Affordable Care Act in the first term and also his fanbase which seems pretty repulsive towards them.

My take :

I think it is one of the most consequential election of US history which will decide the fate of the world and US which could go any way and both ways are extremely different. On the one hand, we have Kamala Harris who is one the weakest democratic candidate with a bad track record as VP and running a pretty bad and lousy campaign. She is not doing enough press interviews, can't articulate thought clearly, didn't give a clear answer to any question and made word-salad. Overall she doesn't have to have charisma or likable enough to steal the race. However if she wins, it would be a historic moment as she will be the first female US President and give the world a sense of relief by protecting it from the chaotic future. As,on the other hand, we've Donald John Trump who is an open threat to democracy and is in an abnormal league of his own. There has never been a modern political figure in US history who is as divisive and radical as him and has produced more scandals and controversies and is literally a narcissist who doesn't read or understand any subject but just has his own point of view which he would enforce one way or another no matter the results. He attacked media and judges as 'enemy of people', tried to overthrow election results by inciting a coup, pledges to be 'dictator' for 'Day 1', suggested to have 'one really violent rough nasty day to end crime', compared immigrants as poisoning the blood of US and killing-raping Americans and made it clear to carry out the most brutal and ruthless persecution and deportation campaign to throw immigrants, called his political opponents like Nancy Pelosi as 'enemy from within' and suggested to use army against them, during BLM(black lives matter) protests he said "shooting starts when the looting starts",described America as a 'trash can' and also has inexplicable likeness for dictators around the world like Xi Jinping, Putin, Kim Jong Un and Viktor Orban and all this is coming from front runner of 2024 election of USA which prouds itself as a symbol of freedom, rights, and prosperity around the globe. His first term VP Mike Pence called him 'a threat on democracy', Trump's Chief of Staff General John Kelly said he lacks the character to be president and he met the definition of fascist, his own Secretary of Defense General James Mattis stated 'first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite American people' and infact 44 of his previous cabinet members refused to endorse him and various leaders of NATO which is formed and led by America are terrified by another Trump presidency because of his fascistic manners and love for Putin. 

Whatever I've described about Trump is not even 1% of his jingoism but if we would have been living in normal times, any of the above reasons could end a candidate's campaign and no one could survive it. But for Trump, it is like 'water off a duck's back',not a move of even a few hundred votes and no difference at all in the poll position. The current polls almost 5-days before election night are showing dead heat between Donald Trump along with his running mate J.D. Vance(Senator of Ohio) and Kamala Harris with his VP candidate Tim Walz (Governor of Minnesota) and the polls underestimated Trump in the last 2 elections, so we might be few days away from chaotic,entertaining and fascistic Trump's 2nd term. Because for Trump, at the age of 78(breaking the record of Joe Biden to become the oldest president), it's his last opportunity to shine at the world stage. The far-left mindless rhetoric and Kamala Harris's lack of appeal is adding fuel to the fire.But for me, a normal bad candidate will always triumph over fascistic,lunatic,entertainer and narcissistic candidaten who not even a bit cares what others think or aspires. Take it in writing- 1.Trump will not concede if he loses and this time he has created a brigade of election-deniers who might turn his last time unsuccessful coup; 2.The election night of November 5 might be one the most intense, cutthroat and close elections of US history(some saying it may draw 269-269 electoral college votes). Some supporters of Trump are saying he has a habit of saying in hyperbole and we've survived his first term safely(well not entirely true) but remember folks, first time Al-Qaeda tried to take down the World Trade Center with a van, well it's a joke, but next time they come back with planes. And once something is gone, it's very difficult to take it back. As famous lyrics from Billy Joel said "We didn't start the fire" but Trump could start it.