‘ONLY AMERICA FIRST’
THE NEW LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD DELIVERS STRONG MESSAGE OF PATRIOTISM
Up close, bound in by the official guests and lowlevel VIPs, it all seemed very normal. There’s a ritual to these things, and until the speeches start, they don’t vary much at all. Sitting in front of the Capitol, just below the lectern, waiting for the brief show to begin, it was even possible to forget for several hours how strange and unexpected all of this really was. But then the man himself arrived and all the rest came flooding back.
Donald Trump took the oath of the highest office in the world Friday. He looked incredulous even saying the words. As he spoke, he did a little wiggle, his body shimmying from the shoulder down, his eyes trapped in that trademark squint.
“I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear ...”
For all the manifest strangeness of an inauguration — all the balls and rallies and novelty hats — they are at their hearts pageants of repetition. There’s a military band — the President’s Own. They’ve played every inauguration for hundreds of years. There are escorts and dignitaries and a very slow rolling out of people — former president Jimmy Carter! The Speaker of the House! — who wouldn’t normally cut it as the lead guest on second-tier late show.
“... that I will faithfully execute ...”
They are designed, in other words, to speak to tradition. The sameness is a feature not a bug. And if all the pomp and waiting in the lead up, all the many marches and hours in line can seem a little numbing, well, that’s kind of the point. It’s like a Catholic Mass, that way. The ritual reinforces the institution. It puts the office first, not the office-holder.
“... the office of President of the United States ...”
But with Donald Trump, it isn’t that easy. The United States has survived for more 300 years. It will survive him, too. But watching from below, peering up as he spoke the famous oath, it was hard not to imagine he might leave a few cracks behind.
Trump’s entire campaign was a rupture — a deliberate striking out against norms. He bragged about torture. He bragged about sexual assault. He mocked the country’s most famous prisoner of war. He even taunted a disabled reporter.
“... and will, to the best of my ability ...”
Of course, to many, that was his appeal. I can’t count the number of Trump supporters who’ve told me over the past year how much they admire his willingness to be politically incorrect. They liked it when he labelled his opponents “Little Marco,” “Lying Ted,” and “Crooked Hillary.” They loved it when he called out Islam by name and denounced the inner cities as wastelands of crime.
“... preserve, protect and defend ... ”
But in a democracy, any democracy, norms are important. Not every rule is written down. American institutions, any institutions really, rely on some base level of respect for the ideas behind them.
And as Donald Trump bobbed his way through his oath of his office, his upraised hand visible from below, the rest available on screen, it was hard not to wonder how much respect he holds for anything at all. He certainly hasn’t shown much to date, in his campaign, or in the interim period before his swearing in.
“... the constitution of the United States ... ”
It will seem like pathetic fallacy, but it really did start to rain when Trump began his oath. Fat drops fell on the VIPs behind him. They reached as one for plastic
IT WAS HARD NOT TO WONDER HOW MUCH RESPECT HE HOLDS FOR ANYTHING AT ALL.
ponchos, creating in the stands a new tableau in clear plastic.
It’s a funny aural experience sitting up there, above the hundreds of thousands gathered below. You get these ripples of sounds — roars and cheers from the left and right, all blowing in from behind, and in response to what it isn’t always clear.
When Trump stepped out in front of the crowd, when he raised his right hand and put his left one down, several sounds at once began leaking in. You could hear them in the background, even in the bubble on the Capitol stairs — whistles, faint jeers, the sound of distant chants. As the drops came and the oath went on, the words leaked out through all the cheers: “Not my president! Not my president! Not my president.”
But in truth, he is the president now. Nothing will change that in the short term. When he finished his oath and shook the chief justice’s hand, one of his sons standing behind the lectern let out a loud whoop. The cheers emerging from the sea of red hats below drowned out any remaining boos.
Donald Trump, finally, after everything and against conventional wisdom, was President of the United States.
“... so help me God.”