By Jake Mulick
Donald J. Trump appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer about a month before the Iowa caucuses for a half-hour long, exclusive interview. In this interview, Blitzer questioned Trump on his personal relationship with some of the other potential Republican candidates. Trump answered, somewhat disgruntled, “Some of us are also friends, but you won’t report on that stuff. The conflict is more fun.” I actually had to stop and rewind the YouTube video I was using to replay the interview since I was so astounded by his statement. Trump is the master of conflict. He has successfully bamboozled many in the American public into thinking that he is a viable option for the most powerful position in the country: the presidency of the United States.
Trump does so by making series of incredibly aggressive and controversial statements, mostly blaming everybody and anybody for the current state of the country. His brashness and disregard for social norms, as well as general politeness, is what makes him such a fascinating character. Trump will do or say anything bizarre or absurd frequently enough so that he remains a relevant topic in the media. This is why many Americans have fallen in love with him.
I don’t think people actually like the things that come out of Trump’s mouth. If you really listen to the absurd comments, ranging from the idea of forcing the Mexican government to build a wall along the southern U.S. border to the banning of all Muslims from entering the United States, you’d realize that very few of them make actual logical sense. The allure of these brash, somewhat-absurd ideologies is that it sounds like Trump has quick solutions to every problem America faces. It doesn’t matter that the concept of excluding every single member of a certain religion is absolutely unconstitutional. To some Americans, it sounds like an easy solution to prevent future terror plots on U.S. soil. We have entered the era similar to that of fast-food: While a fast-fix policy might prove to be quicker and easier, it is, in fact, unhealthy and fundamentally flawed.
Trump uses his lack of political experience as a positive aspect of his résumé, and he does so to completely scapegoat every politician in the country for everything he finds upsetting or flawed about the United States. The very fact that Trump has never held a political office should, in the minds of the American people, immediately disqualify him from running for president. Instead, he answers that criticism with a couple of brash, poorly thought-out remarks. He believes that his ability to bully members of the private sector into making deals with him affords him the power to accomplish everything that needs to be done in Washington, D.C. He does not shy away from the idea of bullying others or imposing his will on them at all. Often times in his rhetoric, we see Trump calling his opponents “whack jobs” or “jerks,” feeding into the fire that makes him so popular. In an era of political correctness, Trump represents everything that is not politically correct, and many Americans are upset with how they are being treated when their fellow Americans are willing to hail Trump as their bizarro savior.
Trump is the quick fix to a lengthy and complicated problem. While he might offer a convenient solution to every problem facing America, while being masked with an anti-establishment and anti-political correctness gleam, his political agenda is far from perfect. The gilded solutions from this man will never end and he is lucky that he has no political track record to contradict him. He is a political Kardashian, remaining prevalent in the tabloids and the front page of the papers while offering very few tangible redeeming qualities. While Ted Cruz was incredibly lucky to win the Iowa caucuses by a small margin, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the nation feels about sensationalist politics. At the end of the day, I think those who read the history of this election will be surprised at how close Trump would get to telling President Obama, “You’re fired!”
Students share opinions around campus
Is Donald Trump aggressive?
“I say he’s aggressive... (but) not in a good way.”
“Yeah... I think he’s actually a useless presidential candidate as well.”
