Explaining the Rise of Donald Trump and the Solution

By Benedict Carrizzo

I have never seen a former president or candidate quite like Donald Trump. Even Andrew Jackson, with his brand of populism, was hardly as clownish and insubstantial as the new president-elect. Now Donald Trump’s deplorable character and baseless policies will make their way to the White House, where he and his orange toupee will reside for the next four years.

One can look to thousands upon thousands of articles written against him to see what I mean, and I do not really think it would be useful to reiterate all his faults, or else I would risk making the already sad and depressed readers of The Fordham Ram even sadder. It is hard to understand why nearly half of America is still buying the snake-oil, but I can give it the old college try. So here, I will try to answer what has been going through so many people’s heads about how can anyone buy into Trump’s fascist proclivities and warped sense of morality.

I have seen dozens of explanations like trade, social media confirmation bias and just plain old white-male bigotry. Yet all of these fall flat, since Trump supporters make on average $71,000 a year, not all of them (especially older ones) are active on social media and plenty of them voted for Barack Obama in 2012. These play a role in the election, but they do not fully explain the picture. I want to explain the bulk of his support. Looking at this hard for too long, I have figured out that Trump’s rise is mainly cultural. Trump supporters see the world around them changing, and they do not like it.

People in the Midwest, a place known as “flyover country,” see Trump’s candidacy as a blast from the past, a time when a church was the hub of the town and “family values” were not challenged by young women looking to succeed in the labor force, or become president for that matter. The media illuminated these challenges. Imagine sitting in your home in the middle of the countryside, watching Fox News and seeing the system crumble: police officers are dishonored, globalization is undermining your national identity, your way of life is ridiculed and no one in politics hears your concerns. Basically, you see a world changing around you, and you cannot keep up. That explains why Evangelical Christians, who are so passionate in their faith, are supporting a morally pathetic man. It is a vote of desperation.

But Trump is a false prophet. For example, already he’s eyeing Goldman Sachs alumnus Steven Mnuchin for Treasury secretary, not “draining the swamp” in Washington.

So how can we solve the issue? It is very simple, but very hard to do for the anti-Trump shouters in the street. It is called listening. Understand that Trump supporters are helplessly clinging to their old way of life, and it is up to you to put aside your own moral righteousness and condescension to understand how others think and feel.

First, address societal issues by including everyone affected by them (This will be my most controversial point, so I will spare my readers the pain of continuing if they disagree with this.) Avoid identity politics at all costs. It is what Sigmund Freud calls the “narcissism of small difference,” and it permeates our political discourse. When politics becomes all about me and my issues, oftentimes expressed by the intro “as an {insert sexuality}, {insert race}, {insert gender} person with {X} life experience, I believe this,” we lose our ability to empathize. Yes, white, male, straight privilege is a strong and powerful force in our system, but it does not mean that all straight white males are living better lives because of it. Communally, white males — and white females, to an extent — get what they want, but if you are living in the middle of nowhere and holding an unsteady factory job, you are probably not feeling very powerful or privileged. If the world is so adamant on teaching empathy, it should be for everyone.

Second, focus on exposure and appreciation for old-world America. This is a job for the media, but I will include everyone because the majority of you at least have a social media account and a blog. Stop demonizing middle Americans as “hillbillies” and “racists” — as a matter of insult, not description — and allow them to express a healthy sense of pride, without letting it devolve into white identity politics. Let the Midwesterners and other Trump supporters understand how harmless American immigrants are without delegitimizing their concerns. And here is something Bernie Sanders did very well: he provided exposure for their issues. He railed against bad trade deals, and wanted an economy for all working-class Americans. Half of America is feeling left out of the big-league, elitist American politics, and it is our job to create an America for everyone, as cliche as that sounds.

So these are the answers. Not very specific, right? I did not even discuss the range of -isms and phobias that trademarked Trump’s candidacy. I did not even mention Hillary Clinton’s faults. There is not enough room in The Fordham Ram to print it all. But I do know that abandoning and marginalizing Trump supporters will not solve anything. Silencing an issue will not make it go away, and silencing a bigot will never make him less bigoted. Empathy is the answer, and everything else goes from there.

Benedict Carrizzo, FCRH ’18, is a communication and media studies and English double major from Kings Park, New York.