By now, you are all aware of the assassination attempt on Presidential candidate Donald Trump. A lone gunman, whose motives are still a mystery, shot at him but ultimately killed an innocent bystander instead, but not before grazing Trump on the ear. It was a surreal event, which is why so many people are still in shock.
Shock has now turned into the familiar cries of miracle, thanks to the gullibility of his followers. Where once they thought that perhaps he was the chosen messenger of God, now they are now certain of it. The recent Republican National Convention made it clear that this was divine providence. The people who spoke from the podium were all in unanimous agreement. God himself had stopped a bullet for this man.
With his recent brush with death, Trump seems to be convinced that he is now a God, although it is difficult to know if he has felt this way for a while now. One thing is clear: the religious right is now at his feet, ready to kiss them for the hope of entering his new kingdom, one that would be unrecognizable to the America of today.
I have to imagine that it must be a weird time for Republicans that are not evangelicals. They could always convince themselves that Trump was one of them, and was simply using religion, as they all do, to maintain the reigns of power. These rich, white men thought that they could control the more extreme religious fringe with a little money and a lot of propaganda. It is fringe no longer. Instead, Christian Nationalism, which is merely a disguised word for fascism, has become mainstream in the party. Many Congressmen are now openly calling themselves Nationalists, since it opens the door for the theocracy they have been hoping for.
As for Trump, while he may not believe in the Christian God, he knows that he is now completely interwoven into its American fabric. He is like a new prophet, and he brings with him the hopes and dreams of citizens who imagine a very different world than they live in today. This is an America to be feared and loathed. Gone would be its secular values of its founding, replaced instead with a newly mutated Christianity with Donald J. Trump as their messiah.
The followers of Trump believe so overwhelmingly in his victory that they think the rest of the country is with them. Those that aren’t will be magically swept under the rug, only to go away. This religious pipe dream has one benefit: it is completely out of touch with reality. Viewership of the RNC was at a historic low. Many Republicans are being pushed away by the more fringe factions, and the common interests of the business elite and their once easily manipulated religious allies are dwindling. Trump’s choice of running mate, another religious nutbag who is willing to anoint a man he once compared to Hitler, does little to dissuade fears of a complete religious takeover.
The right’s capitulation to Trump has sealed their fate. The moderates will either remain silent in the hope that he will go away, or they will march in step with the people that terrify them, too afraid that another 4 years of a decrepit old man will turn their country into a transgender paradise. In any case, it is a party at war with itself. The RNC had none of the old guard show up. This was a not so subtle message that his endorsement is through coercion. The long term effect of this could very well be that the party implodes on itself, since there will come an irreconcilable rift that will split it in half. Trump’s anointment is merely the beginning of that rift.
The reality of the situation is that unless Trump is willing to kill his opposition, they aren’t going anywhere. The dream that progressives will simply lay down and die is born out of faith, and not reality. To rule a country, you need consensus, and that means you must appeal to more than a lunatic branch, no matter how large. In every fascist state, lethal methods were required to maintain control. Countless artists and writers had to be eliminated or silenced to maintain order. How is this to be done in a time and place in which innumerable people express themselves on a daily basis to millions of followers?
Are the people who failed to show up to elect him in 2020 suddenly convinced to show up now? If anything, I would say that it has done little to move the needle in his direction within the party itself. The old guard hope simply to outlive him. Trump is a useful idiot no longer, and his ability to try and bridge the gap with the moderate wing of his party is all but gone. He has only several months to change their mind, but with his assassination attempt, it’s a fair bet that the religious rhetoric is about to hit the stratosphere. His choice of vice-president is more self serving than strategic. Trump wants only people willing to kiss his ring.
Lastly, it’s critical to consider what happens to his allies. Trump loyalists never get that loyalty back. Most of them are either in prison or facing bankruptcy. A presidential pardon would do little to fix their reputation. Having 20% of the population love you is not enough to compensate for the 80% who loath you. The message is clear: when you base your entire career on this man, prepare for it to be a short one.
Trump’s only hope is the electoral college. There is no chance of winning by popular vote in any case. Only by exploiting the broken, archaic system that was invented specifically to impede the voice of the people can he hope to achieve victory. He may succeed. Trump loyalists should keep in mind, however, that as you grow in strength, so do your enemies. Politics, as they say, makes for strange bedfellows. The question is this: which bed will the people chose?