If the next four years is anything like the first week of President Donald Trump’s second term, then it’s time to buckle up... seriously. From banning DEI and birthright citizenship to revoking the Equal Employment Opportunity Act and renaming the Gulf of Mexico, the president has clearly been on a roll, and its scaring many Americans.
According to a survey conducted by CNN, around 29 percent of Americans say they’re not only pessimistic but also afraid of what the next four years will look like. But, while many are scared of the future, some speculate Trump will likely fail at his latest attempt to “make America great again.”
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David Brooks, an opinion columnist at The New York Times, said the key to Trump’s predicted failure is in his attempt to revisit a troubling time in American history. The 19th century was full of Manifest Destiny ideals, industrialization, and let’s not forget the most important aspect of that time... slavery.
Trump’s rollback on important legislation that helped propel integration and equality for all ethnic groups regresses the nation to a time where Black and brown folk were in chains. According to Brooks, this is Trump’s “golden age” of America, and here’s the problem with that. “The problem with populism and the whole 19th-century governmental framework is that it didn’t work,” Brooks asserted.
“Between 1825 and 1901 we had 20 presidencies. We had a bunch of one-term presidents; voters kept throwing the incumbents out because they were not happy with the way government was performing.” Trump recently cited former President William McKinley as an inspiration. “Many presidents mention George Washington or Abraham Lincoln in their inaugurals. Who was the immortal Trump cited? William McKinley.” McKinley’s term was cut short after he was assassinated in 1901.
Brooks argued Trump is doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past, and he’s not the only one that thinks so. Juan Williams, an opinion contributor for the Hill, referenced French conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte to “capture the dangerous possibility for [Trump’s] self-destruction.”
While in battle, Bonaparte said “‘When the enemy is making a false movement, we must take good care not to interrupt him,’” and it’s these words Williams believes will soon haunt the GOP president.
According to Williams, Trump has created a recipe for disaster. Between appointing Elon Musk and repeatedly attacking politicians, at some point, there’s bound to be issues within the GOP. “As a political ringmaster, Trump has shown he has the skill to distract the audience and convince them to believe in magical political solutions,” Williams said.
“But stay tuned as the circus performers — read that as Republican members of Congress — start attacking the ringmaster,” he continued. Lucian K. Truscott IV of the National Memo, claimed— to a similar point— as time goes on, Trump’s “practical effects of prejudice will be, as they always are, difficult to ignore and to justify.” It’s not enough to upset other republicans, but Trump has a habit of pissing off the little guys too.
For example, with over 8,000 transgender people serving in the military, according to the Palm Center, a Trump proposed “trans ban” will likely have immediate and severe implications. “The fact that Donald Trump is incapable of loving anything other than himself will be deadly to his cause,” Truscott IV continued.
The country will just have to wait and watch as the next four year pass by. Regardless if the president is successful in honoring all of his campaign promises and more, ultimately, its the American people that will face the consequences.
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