No, I’m not going to suddenly apologize for Donald Trump and present him as an ardent defender of American democratic institutions.
I regularly receive messages from Quebec supporters of the 45e president who argue that American democracy is sick, that many people are right to be angry at the elites and that despite his outbursts and exaggerations, Donald Trump can permanently shake the cage.
They are right on almost all counts!
- Listen to the American political column with Professor Luc Laliberté via QUB :
An elitist system
At the beginning of February, the Wall Street Journal published a text entitled “Trump doesn’t threaten democracy, he embodies it», the former president does not constitute a threat to democracy, he embodies it. I partially share this idea.
Long before Trump arrived in politics, I noted the growing dissatisfaction of the American population with the political class in Washington. There are very few representatives of the “American dream” and the elected officials appeared at the bottom of the polls in terms of the degree of confidence they inspire.
The phrase “the elites are disconnected” clearly expresses the disappointment of many. In an interconnected world, globalization and migration phenomena worry many Americans who believe that control is completely beyond their control.
Not only must the country’s leaders then transform themselves into genius teachers, but they must also be able to show that they care about the excluded. If Trump is not a teacher, he is second to none when it comes to bringing together the discontented.
Channeling anger is a gift and those who are unhappy must have a voice. In 2016, you may remember that some of them were torn between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. As if it was not a question of left or right, but of a crisis of confidence in the elites.
The cure is worse than the disease
I could speak at length about the evils that are gnawing at the system of a country that I love and to which I devote my career. These ills are often ignored in favor of short-term electoral (or personal) gain and polarization.
If Trump is good for democracy, it is because not only does he give a voice to the dissatisfied, but he allows us to shine a spotlight on the flaws in the system.
With his violent rhetoric and his multiple references to authoritarian leaders, the 45th president also has the “merit” of frightening. I would like the political class to be sufficiently frightened to make changes that are beneficial to the greatest number of people.
I may be deluding myself, but if the presence of such an extreme candidate sufficiently shook the elites, the Republican candidate’s move into politics would have been good.
In the meantime, if the evils are very real, re-elect on 45e president would constitute a remedy that would be worse than the disease. Questioning a system is one thing, overturning it is another.