Trump Talks: Mac explores The Donald
Donald Trump and Socrates might seem an unlikely pairing, but they get joint billing of a sort in free community talks hosted by McMaster University academics.
The Trump Talks is a series of four discussions presented by McMaster professors, kicking off Wednesday, April 4 from 7-9 p.m. with political scientist George Breckenridge on “the causes and consequences of Donald Trump: Could it happen in Canada?”
It is part of McMaster’s Socrates Project, a two-year pilot project named after the ancient Greek philosopher intended to share McMaster’s expertise in the social sciences and humanities to “foster the critical thinking, communication, creativity, imagination and collaboration critical to developing deeply engaged citizens and leaders.”
The events are free and open to the public at the McMaster University Centre for Continuing Education, 1 James St. North. Reserve a spot online at www.McMasterCCE.ca/events
Future Mac Trump Talks include presentations by Ameil Joseph on April 11 (racism and resistance), Karen Bird April 18 (gender and politics in the U.S. and Canada), and Tony Porter April 25 (Is Trump destroying the U.S.-led global order?)
Breckenridge is retired but still teaches at the university and recently published the textbook “United States Government and Politics.” He will speak for about 40 minutes, then there will be a coffee break and he will answer questions.
The Spectator spoke with him about the polarizing U.S. president and implications for the upcoming Ontario election. Answers have been edited for length.
Q: Why do you feel the Socrates Project and The Trump Talks are important?
A: The idea is to get McMaster into the community more. It’s important for the university to make its expertise available and the continuing education facility where the talks are held (in the east end of Jackson Square mall) is quite new, and beautiful. And what Trump has done is raise the attention level of U.S. politics sky high, so we thought we could build on that with these Trump Talks.
Q: There is no quick explanation for why Trump was elected, but what is your thumbnail take on how a business mogul and TV celebrity with no political experience was able to pull it off ?
A: It was really a protest (vote) against change. America has been changing rapidly, with a lot of things coming to a head; economic and demographic changes, and the election of Obama was so obviously the face of that
change, and that was a shock and surprise to a lot of people, and Trump was a protest against that. Trump has a genius for tapping into people’s anger and prejudice in a way that Republicans had only done subtly in the past but he does it directly and openly, to harness fears and anxieties.
Q: Your talk Wednesday night is in part about implications of the Trump presidency for Ontario’s election in June. There has in the past been talk of “U.S.-style” election campaigns having an impact here. What do you think the Trump ripple effect might be?
A: The polls show that the Conservatives have a good chance to win the provincial election but we haven’t seen the campaign yet. There are some similarities between (PC Party leader) Doug Ford and Donald Trump; both are populists playing to the anxieties and anger of a certain segment of the working class population that feels looked down upon by the elites — the “Ford Nation” phenomenon. There are similarities, but on the other hand, Ford is not racist in the way Trump openly is, and when his brother Rob ran for mayor he had good support among the working class section of the immigrant community. Also, Ford doesn’t have the narcissistic personality that Trump has.
Q: Trump came to power despite opposition from many small-c conservative intellectuals and politicians in the U.S. There remain “neverTrumpers” on the right who never bought what he was selling. What impact do you think Trump has had and will continue to have on the conservative movement in the U.S.?
A: It’s a unique situation because Republicans in Congress are one thing, they are afraid of alienating Trump’s base, but there are those in the non-elected Republican establishment, and commentators, policy people, who are unanimously opposed to him and have been among his most trenchant critics.
Q: All four of the Trump Talk lectures, from their descriptions, cast Donald Trump as a negative force. For the sake of balance, do you think a pro-Trump speaker from Mac should be giving a talk as well?
A: It’s a good question, and we did think about that. I don’t think anyone in the (political science) department is pro-Trump. Throughout my career I have tried to be dispassionate about American politics and make the case for the other side, whatever my personal views. The thing with Trump is, it’s almost impossible to do that, and during the election campaign media struggled with that, with the danger of false equivalency. Other Republican candidates, or Hillary, were “normal” candidates, and Trump is not in the normal range at all, he’s just not. So it’s difficult to find academics who support him. But at the Trump Talks we may find that in the audience ... I kind of hope that happens.
Q: Do you think Trump with his tendency for insulting opponents — Crooked Hillary, Lyin’ Ted, and just this week, Cheatin’ Obama — has coarsened the political climate not only in the U.S. but here, lowering the bar so that if a candidate in Ontario’s election uses a derogatory nickname it won’t seem off limits?
A: I think that yes, the danger is that he has degraded the dialogue in politics. But the alarming thing is, it worked. Clearly there is potential for it to seep across the border. The question is, will things go back to close to normal in American politics after Trump, or has he done permanent damage. I’m inclined to think it won’t be permanent.
Q: Would it be dangerous or genius for Doug Ford to start saying “Make Ontario Great Again”?
A: I think it depends on how broadly that would appeal to people in the province, but I would think he would be well advised to tone that down.