When you’re to the right of House Speaker Paul Ryan, former Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Ash Carter, you know you’re in a new stratosphere of demagoguery for a major party political candidate. (Even if fellow Republican candidates like Dr. Ben Carson and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush have suggested similar, albeit less bluntly stated, ideas.)
While it may seem like new levels of vitriol are being unleashed, Trump is playing a very old game. Over the course of this country’s history, many before him have used the idea of some vague, generalized fear of an “other” to whip up support for their personal gain. Surely, many after him will, as well.
Wisconsin Sen. Joe McCarthy had the communists. Alabama Gov. George Wallace had African-Americans. Many groups have had their time under the scrutiny of a paranoid American populace: Chinese Americans, Jewish Americans, Catholics, Irish Americans and Italian Americans. The list goes on and on.
What makes Trump and his assertions so poisonous is not just limited to his campaign. He has now opened the door for others to speak openly in the same fashion. Whereas before such sentiments were relegated to the dark corners of conversations, those with hate in their hearts now have an opening to express themselves. White nationalists like the American Freedom Party and the Dutch Party for Freedom (which proposed a similar ban in The Netherlands a few years ago) love Trump and his ideals.
We live in a pluralistic society. We are not homogeneous in any sense. We are all mixed together in this country, which is exactly what makes us great.
Holding a minority religious or political viewpoint doesn’t make someone evil. It’s un-American to assert otherwise.
Trump is incredibly cynical. He’s playing his supporters like a fiddle. He knows exactly what he is doing.
He knows a lot of people feel this way, and he’s just shameless enough to tap into that fervor.