New Trump stances: right, or just wrong?
Former President Donald Trump has been on a bit of rhetorical roll over the last week, speechifying on topics that liberal opponents say smack of promises of authoritarian government and nativist tropes against any and all immigrants to the United States.
Are critics right to warn against campaign talk that praises the idea of dictatorship, for however short a time, and the notion that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”?
Or is this just campaign talk designed to rally his voting base with stirring commentary? Are critics missing elements of humor in his words and mere exaggeration for the sake of it, as some of his supporters say? Trump, after all, is far and away the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president. He’d like the other candidates still left in the race to drop out to clear the way for his campaign. Is this just his idiosyncratic way of showing who’s boss?
Trump also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s labeling of Trump’s legal troubles as “politically motivated persecution.” Is Trump right or wrong to invoke the
Kremlin leader’s support?
Fox News host Brian Kilmeade says Trump’s remarks, including calling immigrants “vermin,” are justified. “He’s just trying to say we want to keep America, America,” Kilmeade said. “We want to build up the border and find out who’s coming in and out. And they tried to say that this language was the problem.”
Earlier this month, Trump told Fox’s Sean Hannity that he would briefly be a “dictator” if elected to another term in 2024 in order to complete a wall at our southern border and drill for more domestic oil. Is he wrong to invoke anti-democratic forms of governance in our country, or are these just colorful words aimed at getting more coverage for his fiery campaign?
Not all the critics of the recent speeches are liberals. Former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan on Saturday said that Trump is not a conservative but a “populist authoritarian narcissist” bent on creating a radically different Republican Party. Who’s right here?
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