For me, Donald J. Trump died as a public figure in November 2015, the day he mocked a reporter for a physical disability. During a campaign rally. No one that morally bankrupt — clearly with an empathy tank running on empty — belongs in a CEO’s office, much less the White House. Everything that’s happened around Trump over the nine years since has been kicking a dead horse. And there’s not room on this page to review the impeachments (multiple), indictments (multiple), and improprieties (myriad) that make Trump the most dangerous candidate for president in this country’s history.
Yet here we are. A lying, racist felon is the best the Republican Party can do. And if seven “battleground” states shake down in Trump’s electoral-college favor, the 45th president of the United States will become the 47th. Should he win, make note, Donald Trump will be inaugurated on Martin Luther King Day next January. Thinking back to the public mocking of that reporter, such a coincidence is unsettling and appalling to consider.
The question that keeps me in twists: Why? In the age of #MeToo, how has a man like Trump managed not to get canceled? What kind of standard do men see in him? And how can a solitary woman consider him an agent for their interests? The closest I’ve come to an answer: They love to break things.
Millions of Americans today don’t just dislike organized federal government, they resent it. The three branches our founding fathers drew up create a structure that has, in the minds of millions, restricted their freedoms instead of creating those freedoms in the first place. (Challenge a Trump supporter to name the three branches. It’s a cringe-worthy bar trick.) After generations of one Democrat after another, then one Republican after another, simply steering the federal ship forward — fair weather or foul — millions of Americans want that ship at least rocked, if not sunk. Donald Trump is Captain Chaos. (My apologies to the late Dom DeLuise and a very fun character in The Cannonball Run.)
The trouble with chaos in our system, though, is that people get hurt. And people die. Whether it’s outlawing abortion, dividing immigrant families at the border, or slicing FEMA funding, human beings get caught in Trump’s ongoing performance art. (Ask the Republican nominee what FEMA stands for and wait for the head tilt.) And when he takes the lies up a notch — “They’re eating the dogs!” — human beings become targets for hate and violence. Those millions of Americans supporting Trump feel they’ve been targeted long enough. It’s time to target them. Time to target others. And yes, it’s pure racism. If you deny the notion that you’re racist, but you support a racist candidate for public office, guess what?
What would happen in a second Trump presidency? I have a prediction: Within a year of resuming office, Trump would step down or “retire.” (He’d never use the word “resign.” That suggests quitting, and he’s no loser.) This is a man who was incompetent on his best day as president and now shows decline in his faculties and whatever might have passed for mental acuity. Sharks, batteries, and Pennsylvania windmills. Those behind Project 2025 will find a way to make President Vance America’s new problem. Stormy seas be damned.
I remain a believer in decency, and I feel like our better instincts as a people will prevail. But over the last nine years I’ve learned how long, in fact, it will take to achieve that form of normalcy, how challenging it is to go from “us” and “them” to “we.” A con man managed to convert a political party into a cult, here in 21st century America. Until a liar’s again called a liar, tension will be part of this country’s political oxygen. And yes, so will chaos.
Frank Murtaugh is the managing editor of Memphis Magazine. He writes the columns “From My Seat” and “Tiger Blue” for the Flyer.
