Trumpism, a mirror-image of Authoritarianism

By Uche Onyebadi

…IF only the US electorate had listened more attentively to Hillary Clinton during the 2016 US presidential electioneering campaign period. Then, the much maligned but insightful, perceptive and articulate lady warned the electorate about Donald J. Trump. Almost in the manner of prophesy, she proclaimed that there was something eerie and ominous about a man (Trump) who could not manage a casino, and ran it into bankruptcy, aspiring to govern a country like the powerful United States.

A casino is where you literally sit and watchgambling addicts come and dump money into your coffers. How does one run such business aground? But, Trump did, then he went ahead to immerse himself in other bankruptcies, from his failed airline to his hoax university that awarded phantom degrees.

Yet, he wants everyone to embrace and celebrate Trumpism, and give him another four years in office!

Trumpism is onlyan embellishedterminology for big-time failure.But, some of Trump’s followers and associates think otherwise. Indeed, they think it is the epitome of wisdom. In 2016, he was floated as an American messiah, a business man endowed with all it took to make America great again. But history has shown how spurious this assumption has turned out to be. Trump inherited a booming economy, several months of good news on employment and a ready-to-go government office set up to effectively deal with any pandemic. Rather than consolidate what he inherited, hecrowned himself a genius and offhandedly dismissed and dismantled the good work of his predecessors. However, Covid-19 arrived and punched holes into the falsehood he sold to the public. Trump could not even save himself, his family and the White House from the ravages of coronavirus. Little wonder he could not save over nine million Covid-19-afflicted Americans, and nearly 240,000 of his compatriots who are now dead because of this vicious virus. This pandemic has shown the depth of his uncanny ability to mismanage anything entrusted in his care.

Yet, Trump wants another four years in office!

There is something untoward about a person who squanders the fortunes of a casino. It is not just about sheer incompetence.It is symptomatic of immense arrogance, self-centeredness, a pre-existing, advanced stage of authoritarianism and megalomania, and an unbelievable cavalier persona. It took Africa’s dictators like Jean-Bedel Bokassa, Mobutu Sese Seko and Gnassingbé Eyadémadecades in power to entrench themselves as authoritarian rulers, but it took Trump less than four years to surpass them in authoritarian showmanship. And, who are his friends? Members of the worldwide, exclusive club of presidential dictatorships, from North Korean to Russia.

Yet, Trump wants another four years in office!

Trump’s authoritarian tendency could not have metamorphosed overnight. It must have been brewed from infancy. His niece’s recent book tells about kid-Trump whose father made a millionaire, provided a hugely privileged life in his toddler years and made to believe that he was an infallible genius. And the strings of financial dishonesty exposed by the New York Times, tell a tale of a man on a ruthless mission to hoodwink and game the system by paying a laughable $750 in annual taxes, for a billionaire he claims to be.

Yet, Trump wants another four years in office!

Some people may have authoritarian tendencies, but it takes the combination and culmination of factors for their dark side to pop up into public glare. So, it is with Trump. The first set of factors is composed of his enablers; people who looked the other way or failed to understand the import of his declaration of intent to run for the office of president. That declaration was filled with vile, lies, xenophobia, all couched in uncultured language.  And, we also have the Republican Party top guns and the associates he appointed to office at the White House. None of them had the boldness to tell him necessary home truths. They, for their convenience and the protection of their political clout and other gains, allowed the president to debase the presidency and govern like His Imperial Majesty, the King.  

Another factor is his bully-leadership style. A study by the Brookings Institute concluded that as at October 7 this year, President Trump had recorded an unprecedented turnover of 91 percent of his “A Team” of officials (https://www.brookings.edu/research/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/). Anyone who disagreed with him was shown the door in a most uncivil manner. His preference is to be surrounded by “yes” people, from the vice president down the ladder of authority and relevance.  Very few people were surprised when Trump’s former Chief of Staff, General John Kelly, reportedly said this about his erstwhile boss mid-October: “The depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me…He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life.”

Yet, Trump wants another four years in office!

Perhaps the greatest enabler of Trump’s authoritarianism lies in the most inauspicious place: the US constitution. Article 2 of the constitution grants enormous powers to the president. Granted, the framers of the constitution in their wisdom wanted an executive president with powers to efficiently, effectively and humanely govern. They must have assumed that any occupant of the White House was bound by conscience toutilise those powers for the good of the country. They could not have envisioned the emergence of a Trump to thoroughly abuse those powers and betray their good intentions. Then, there is the Justice Department’s convention about not dragging a serving US president to court for misbehavior.

Trump will always see himself as standing above the law, with enormous constitutional powers and a convention that shields him from legal proceedings while in office. It is not in his DNA to obey the law, any law. He believes that he is the state and everyone should be at his beck and call. He is a human bulldozer who, as Americans say, incorrigibly believes in my way or the highway. Trump only thinks about himself and acts for himself only. Nobody else matters to him.

Yet, Trump wants another four years in office!

When the man Trump was campaigning for office in 2016, he told his listeners that America had become the laughing stock in the international community. Now, people don’t just laugh at America, they guffaw and wonder how and why the people elected him to office. Reelecting him will convince the world that America is no longer the shining city in the sun; the moral standard bearer for the rest of the world; the country that celebrates decency, democracy and human rights; and a haven where the presidency is looked upon with respect and dignity because it deserves both. Trumpknows that if that he gets another four years, he will still have enormous powers without any more stake in running for office. Nothing can check his excesses anymore.  And,America might well be like John Pepper Clark’s imagery of broken China in the sun.

Onyebadi is a member of Naija Times Editorial Advisory Board, and Associate Professor and Chair of Journalism Department, Texas Christian University, USA