Win or lose, Trump was the mirror America needed

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2020/11/04/win-or-lose-trump-was-the-mirror-
america-needed/

A day after Election Day 2020, the presidential race between Donald Trump
and Joe Biden is still too close to call. As states continue to count ballots, the
potential for recounts and litigation to affect the final outcome remains.
Viable routes to victory remain for both candidates, even in the midst of
several colossal failures that should have resulted in a trouncing of the
incumbent Trump.

At various points during the campaign, both Trump and Biden referred to
this election as a fight for the “soul” of America. If that is the case, Trump’s
better-than-expected performance should hold a mirror up for Americans
to see what that soul truly looks like.

After downplaying the COVID-19 pandemic that has taken more than
200,000 American lives, Trump still has rock solid support, even after
contracting the illness himself. In the past four years, he has openly fawned
vicious dictators such as Russian president Vladimir Putin, Turkish
president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and North Korean supreme leader Kim
Jong-un. He inappropriately deployed the military on American citizens
during a moment of social unrest. He has failed to denounce white
supremacy, separated immigrant parents from their children, consistently
deployed racist rhetoric, and banned residents of seven Muslim-majority
countries from entering the U.S. None of this seems to have eroded his base,
even voters of color—exit polls show that Trump support from Black and
Latino or Hispanic voters is up from 2016.

Meanwhile, California’s raging wildfires highlight Trump’s decision to

withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. His lack of
transparency and demonization of the press can only be considered
acceptable under an authoritarian regime. He regularly flaunts
undemocratic values, and his narcissism seemingly knows no bounds. He
has converted press briefings into a stage for his personal political reality
show. In spite all of this, during his term in office, Trump still retained the
backing of roughly half of the electorate.

Trump isn’t the cause; he is a reflection of past policymakers, values,

and practices.

To be clear, most Americans recognize the danger Trump poses to

democracy—he lost the popular vote in 2016, and all signs point to the same
outcome for 2020. More voters than not understand the pain and suffering
his quest to make America “great” has caused for women, immigrants,
people of color, the poor, and the working class.

Still, the outsized support Trump has continued to receive exposes

America’s “soul” for what it is. Trump’s racist rhetoric isn’t novel or unique.
He isn’t the only billionaire that dodges millions in taxes. And, tragically,
immigrants of color have always been treated worse than their white,
Western European counterparts. With that in mind, historians won’t
reference the day Trump took office when writing about the erosion of
democratic traditions. Trump isn’t the cause; he is a reflection of past
policymakers, values, and practices.

Trump’s now-predictable behavior will continue. In line with his values, he

falsely declared victory in the middle of the night, essentially inviting
violence, political and legal turmoil, and a horrible expectation that he
won’t leave office peacefully if he loses now or even after a potential second
term. These undemocratic pronouncements should not surprise us, nor
should the seemingly undiminished support for those pronouncements—
after all, this is the man who said, at a 2016 rally, “I could stand in the
middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose
voters.” America has proved him right.

If this election is about the “soul” of America, then even voting

Donald Trump out of office is not enough.

Biden’s potential victory, meanwhile, will be made possible by America’s

cities, populated by people of color. Trump has referred to these Black and
brown neighborhoods as places infested by crime and rodents. They are
not; these communities are places that elevate integrity, hope, hard work,
and determination—values that the country must build upon.
If this election is about the “soul” of America, then even voting Donald
Trump out of office is not enough. The president’s sustained support
demonstrates that the mirror we hold up to America’s soul should force us
to reflect on the beliefs, the systems, and the political practices that elected
him. Biden’s support is enough evidence to say that America isn’t Trump,
but Trump still represents a good part of America’s soul. Confronting that
part means confronting the nation’s racism, xenophobia, and classism. If,
someday, we prove successful in battling those demons, then Trump was
the mirror America needed.

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