Who is Donald Trump?
Image credit: Fox News.
The phenomenon of Donald Trump is quite fascinating.
Trump served as US president from 2017 to 2021. He wasn't re-elected for a second term in 2020, and that made him… a little upset. Now, he's giving it another go.
Trump is a very polarizing figure. Some say he is their hero. They say he is the perfect man to serve as US president. Meanwhile, others say he is the worst person who has ever lived.
In this blog entry, I am going to try and figure him out. I will compare him to other characters, both real and fictional, where I happen to notice some parallels.
At the start, I will disclose that I have a strong left-wing bias.
I have tried to speak with conservatives about Trump, but it is clear to me that the man I observe, and the man that they observe, are two completely different people.
That said, I will be discussing the unhinged lunatic. If you want to read about the competent, charismatic leader, I'm afraid you'll have to go somewhere else.
Here goes.
Adolf Hitler
Image credit: Gettysburg Museum of History.
Well, we might as well start off with the big one.
Many people on the left would describe Trump as fascist. Some have compared him to Adolf Hitler. Some people on the right have expressed similar sentiments.
These comparisons may seem a little extreme. However, I think it'd be foolish to dismiss them completely. Let's face it: Trump and Hitler have a few key things in common.
Similarities
Firstly, Trump is extremely xenophobic. Trump's comments on Mexican and Muslim immigrants, in particular, have made many people very uncomfortable.
During his presidency, Trump went as far as separating children from their parents, deporting the parents and locking the kids in cages, in an effort to control immigration.
Secondly, Trump isn't liberal.
"Liberal" seems to be a loaded term these days. For clarity, here's what it means to me.
To be liberal means to be tolerant of how others live their lives - as long as they're not harming others. Live and let live. As a liberal, this is one of my core values.
For example, like most, I am fine with gay people. I am not affected by homosexual relationships, so I see no reason to take issue with them.
Hitler, on the other hand, did take issue with homosexuality. He criminalized it, going as far as attempting to eradicate homosexuals.
Trump never went that far, but he has implemented certain policies that go against the core value of being liberal.
For example, Trump banned transgender people from serving in the military.
Granted, this was done with the stated rationale of avoiding the costs of transition-related medical procedures.
That said, given the cost of training new personnel, it seems clear to me that this rationale is bogus. I think Trump just doesn't like trans people.
There are other examples of Trump's illiberal inclinations and policies, but I don't have time to go through them all. I'd like to try and get this published before the 2024 presidential election.
Finally, Trump is undemocratic.
Both Hitler and Trump were, at some point, democratically elected as heads of government in their respective countries.
Following this, they both attempted to dismantle the democratic systems in their respective countries, installing themselves as dictators.
Of course, Trump's attempt to dismantle the US democracy was decidedly unsuccessful. I think now is as good a time as any to address the differences between Trump and Hitler.
Differences
Firstly, although I am no fan of Trump, I don't believe for a second that he is as bad as Hitler.
You may think Trump is racist, and I would tend to agree. But do you really think he wants to eradicate an entire race? If so, I'm afraid we're gonna have to agree to disagree on that one.
Secondly - and, in my opinion, more importantly - Trump isn't as competent as Hitler was.
Hitler was a terrible person. He was one of the worst who ever lived. But - and this is not a complement - he was also quite intelligent.
Hitler was able to get democratically elected as Chancellor of Germany. From there, he was able to dismantle the democratic system, becoming a dictator.
Trump, on the other hand, didn't manage that.
During the 2020 presidential election, Trump made it clear that if he lost the election, he wouldn't acknowledge the result.
When he lost, he attempted to stay in power. However, in contrast to Hitler's systematic dismantling of Germany's democracy, Trump's attempt was chaotic and poorly thought out.
He refused to concede to his defeat. He insisted that widespread election fraud had taken place, without any evidence to support this assertion.
He filed several bogus lawsuits, in an attempt to have individual states' results overturned. He even phoned election offices, attempting to coerce them to "find" extra votes.
From a phone call to Georgia's Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger:
I just wanna find 11780 votes, […] because we won the state, and flipping the state is a great testament to our country, […] it's a testament that they can admit to a mistake, or, whatever you wanna call it, if it was a mistake, I dunno.
This call was recorded. You can hear it straight from the horse's mouth.
Most notably, Trump incited January 6th. His supporters stormed the US Capitol, in an attempt to prevent Biden's victory from being formalized.
This insurrection attempt delayed the counting of electoral votes. It also resulted in the deaths of 6 people, with many more injured.
All this, however, did not keep Trump in power. The rioters were cleared from the Capitol, and the presidency was handed to Biden.
The parallels between Trump and Hitler are interesting, but there are other people to look at. This next one's gonna be a little different.
Borat Sagdiyev
Image credit: Geekfeud (Dead link).
This may seem like an absurd comparison, but believe it or not, an even more absurd one is coming. Besides, when you think about it, Borat and Trump seem to have a lot in common.
Firstly, Trump is a misogynist.
Trump has made all sorts of comments about women. Here's one of his more charming comments.
Grab them by the pussy.
Imagine this comment, being said in a Borat voice. It checks out, don't you think? It seems like the exact sort of thing Borat might say.
Many of Trump's other comments about women don't fit so seamlessly with Borat's vocabulary - not to my ear, at least - but the sentiment is a near-perfect match.
Secondly, Trump has been known to make uncomfortable comments about children.
I'm going to be dating her in 10 years. Can you believe it?
Said about a 10 year old. Horse's mouth. If you listen to the recording, you can hear her reaction. She's clearly thinking, "what the fuck, dude?"
I will acknowledge that the quoted comment from Trump is nowhere near as bad as things Borat has said.
Thirdly, some would say that Trump, like Borat, has incestuous tendencies. Personally, I wouldn't agree, but I will address this potential similarity.
Here is the famous quote we've all heard:
I've said if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her.
Horse's mouth. Trump is on a talk show in 2006, commenting on the possibility of his daughter appearing in Playboy. For the sake of completeness, here is the full quote, taken from the clip.
It would be really disappointing — not really — but it would depend on what's inside the magazine. I don't think Ivanka would do that, although she does have a very nice figure. I've said if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her.
Shortly after he said this, a representative of his issued the following statement:
[Donald Trump] was absolutely joking. He was making fun of himself for his tendency to date younger women. It's a sense of humor that people don't see [from him] all the time.
In my opinion, Trump's comment was classless and inappropriate - but that's all. As much as I despise Trump, I am not convinced that he is attracted to his daughter.
So, it seems like the main thing Trump has in common with Borat is how they both view women - there for men's sexual pleasure, to incubate babies, and to be subservient to men.
Joe Biden
Image credit: The New York Times.
Imagine a comparison even more absurd than the last. Well, here it is. I told you. But, just hear me out.
From the start of Joe Biden's presidency, people across the political spectrum have questioned his mental competence. Many have outright stated that he has dementia.
Early on in his presidency, I researched these claims, but couldn't find any evidence that substantiated them to my satisfaction.
However, more recently, I can't deny it. Perhaps Biden has dementia; perhaps is has some other mental illness. All I know is, Biden clearly isn't fit to serve as US president for a second term.
But Joe Biden isn't the only one who has shown signs of mental decline.
Donald Trump is refusing to debate Kamala Harris. He is cancelling scheduled TV interviews. And when he does speak, he tends to ramble incoherently about "the Mexicans", or whatever.
Make no mistake: Trump is showing clear signs of mental decline. He may not be as far along as Biden, but he is catching up.
This may be the most absurd comparison in this entry, but it is becoming less and less absurd with each passing week.
No AI tools were involved in writing this blog entry. If any of the images I've pinched are AI-generated, I swear to god...
Published 2024-10-29.