Weird, really? Of all the words that theOxford English Dictionarythe Democrats have chosen weirdweird, to describe Donald Trump? Even the main person concerned can’t believe it. “No one has ever called me weird,” he lamented. “I am many things, but weird, I am not!”
For once, the former president is telling the truth, at least about this: he is many things. When it comes to adjectives, his Democratic opponents had plenty to choose from: compulsive liar, convicted felon, potential megalomaniac…
They set their sights on the euphemism of the century: weird.
It may seem overly sweet, harmless or even… bizarre, but on reflection, it must be admitted that this epithet corresponds perfectly to reality. We have known for a long time that this man is undoubtedly strange. Very, very weird.
It was Tim Walz, the relatively unknown Democratic governor of Minnesota, who opened the show at the end of July: “There are some weird people on the other side,” he said in a television interview. “They want to take away the books. [des bibliothèques]they want to be in your exam room [chez le médecin]… »
The word hit home. Other Democratic leaders were quick to use it. The American media dissected it on full pages. Social networks went wild. So much so that this single word, weird, likely contributed to Kamala Harris choosing Tim Walz as her running mate.
And so, in November, this former professor could be propelled to the vice presidency of the United States. Thanks to a word. Strange, yes, but not so much: clearly, Tim Walz has struck a chord. For once, the Trumpists seem shaken. Frustrated, but powerless.
As noted by the Los Angeles Times1, Democrats may have found the Republicans’ kryptonite…
Do you prefer Harry Potter to Superman? Allow me another mind-boggling analogy.
The spell is called “Riddikulus” and Potter fans (or their parents) know exactly what I’m talking about: with a wave of a magic wand, the wizard can make the most horrifying of monsters seem ridiculous in the eyes of the one who was terrified of them. A horrible giant spider, for example, will suddenly find itself wearing roller skates. It will look unstable and grotesque. It will no longer frighten anyone.
This is a bit like what is happening right now with Donald Trump.
For eight years, we have taken him seriously. We fear his every move. We fear the strong man, the authoritarian drift. Donald Trump carefully cultivates this image of power and invincibility. Along comes Tim Walz, who notes the obvious: no but, listen to him ramble a little about sharks and electroshocks, or about Hannibal Lecter, the amiable cannibal; he really is weird, this guy…
Suddenly, Trump’s power is defused. Suddenly, he’s not threatening; in the world’s eyes, he’s just incredibly weird.
According to Tim Walz, the left has given him “far too much credit” by constantly repeating that he represents a terrible danger to American democracy…
He may be right. But there are limits to making fun of the former president’s actions. Donald Trump is not just weird; he is much worse than that.
When Donald Trump promises to abandon Ukraine to its fate or to expel undocumented immigrants en masse, it’s hard to laugh. Millions of lives are at stake. Not to mention the very real danger that his re-election represents for American democracy and for the stability of the rest of the planet. No, really, there’s no laughing matter.
The other danger is that the insult will eventually be turned against Democrats, as it did with Hillary Clinton and her “basket of deplorables” in 2016. By calling Donald Trump weird, Democrats run the risk of appearing contemptuous of his supporters.
Republicans are already trying to turn the tide in their favor, so far without success. On the contrary, the more they counterattack, the deeper they sink. Their problem is that the Democratic line of attack is solid, not at all exaggerated. Calling Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, weirdwrites columnist Tom Nichols on X2it’s not an insult; it’s a definition.
PHOTO BEN GRAY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
JD Vance and Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Georgia State University in Atlanta on August 3
When JD Vance suggests giving less weight to the vote of childless people, it is objectively bizarre. When Donald Trump claims he didn’t know Kamala Harris was black, it is positively strange. When he urges his “beautiful Christians” to vote for him so they never have to vote again, it is bizarre as well as strange.
True, all this is also ridiculous. We can laugh at it, if it makes us feel better, but until the Americans go to the polls, it will remain dangerous.
1. Read the Los Angeles Times column (in English)
2. Check out the post on X