By KARA EVANS
Trump’s culminated motives to re-establish a right-wing reign in the US face the music of a widely un-unified Republican Party and a Democrat-dominated Senate.
A presidency encapsulated by incitements of violence against the state and an explicit abuse of presidential powers does not bode well for the supposed democracy which defines contemporary America. Trump’s suspected announcement of re-candidacy on 15 November (echoing the rhetoric of the 2016 ‘Make America Great Again’ campaign) widely promoted increasing anxiety for allies who called for the former President to delay re-election announcements until results of the Georgia state runoff-election are announced.
Currently, the Republican Party has been increasingly immersed in the instability of ongoing US midterm elections, following the uproar from rejected Republican candidates. The insecurity of Trump’s re-election campaign widely stems from his extensive endorsement of said failed candidates. The Republican Party have ultimately faced the embarrassment of candidate Herschel Walker failing to unseat Democratic incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock, with the tough battle continuing to 6 December. Such failures amongst Republican candidates have dented Trump’s campaign, with blame largely falling on the predecessor for the party’s inability to achieve a ‘red wave’ and their narrow control of the House continuously slipping away.
The trailing statistics of the Republican Party, however, do not spark much hope for the reign of a retired populist president.
The re-election of a preceding President trialled for an incitement of violence against the government assaults the democratic process in the US and insults the Presidential Office. A dismissed charge of incitement of insurrection, as a consequence of Trump’s involvement in the attacks of 6 January, does not prove his innocence. Rather, the results of the trials encapsulate Trump’s elitist adeptness to circumvent the checks and balances of the US government established by the doctrine of the Constitution.
Questioning Trump’s potential to change his style of populist governance undermines the integrity of US voters. The company of Nick Fuentes (a well-known white nationalist, anti-Semite and Holocaust denier) and Kanye West (currently being cancelled for extreme anti-Semitism) kept by Trump ultimately exonerates any hope of the predecessor’s movement away from the extreme right-wing populism of his previous term.
Trump has fundamentally been faced with an underwhelming welcome back to US politics by American voters. 60% of voters suggest they do not hope for his return to the Oval Office, but 50% ultimately think such an event is likely.
In the same respect, Trump’s chauvinistic approach to US politics brightens fears of the repercussions on international affairs that a retired right-wing Republican would reproduce. Currently, the US and Russia face fricative tensions, stemming from nuclear arms treaties to impeachment on Human Rights in Ukraine. The two world powers have consecutively struggled to conclude talks with retrospective mutual agreements. Putin has left the world on a knife’s edge with the threat of nuclear weapons in the already bloody conflict blanketing Ukraine. The re-establishment of Trump could ultimately send America’s international relationships to dust.
The populist ideological exploits of Donald J. Trump in his first tenure (categorised by the Islamophobic Muslin ban to name just one of the most significant) points to fears of the derogatory international legislation expected in his second non-consecutive term.
The possibility of a populist’s return to the Oval Office disparages democracy in America and ultimately raises necessary questions over the legitimacy of US politics.
Image: Flickr/ Gage Skidmore