Chapter 10 of The Case for Trump by Victor Davis Hanson is titled “End Trump!”, and therefore, is about the hatred and opposition towards President Donald Trump. The chapter starts off when Hanson explains that there has never before in the history of the president of the United States been as much effort by the opposition to remove the elected president during their first term in office. Hanson does note that the hatred and idea of impeachment for Bill Clinton occurred during his second term as president. There are a number of reasons why people do not like, and even hate, Trump. In fact, Hanson goes as far and states, “the efforts to delegitimize or even destroy him seemed to have ushered in a veritable second American civil war” (281). An interesting point about Trump being elected is that he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton, however, he easily won the Electoral College. Therefore, it was clear that he faced intense opposition when being elected from the citizens in the nation. There were even thoughts and jokes about killing Trump from celebrities as well as other public figures, as they were meant to bring down Trump’s popularity and hurt his image. Additionally, both celebrities and politicians have routinely mocked and shown hatred towards Trump in a number of ways, such as on TV talk shows as well as social media. Democrats and others tried to charge Trump for policies and other reasons and ultimately get him in trouble, such as for his issues with Russia. It is clear that people have tried to get him in trouble and out of office since being elected. Despite this, Trump has remained the same person with the same manners and lifestyle. The author also mentions the Resistance, which are those who are against Trump, as Hanson discusses some of their strategies to weaken Trump from even before Inauguration Day. A good portion of the people that are against Trump are left-wing, however, an interesting point made by the author is that those opposed to Trump are not all left-wing. Therefore, some Republicans do not like Trump, as these people are known as “Never Trumpers”. Towards the end of the chapter, Hanson discusses in more detail the investigations of the Trump-Russian collusion. With this information in mind, how do you think people’s opinions on Trump have changed since he was elected or are they similar? Do you think that all of the hatred and opposition towards Trump is deserved or is some of it unfair? What are the chances of Trump being elected for a second term?
I like the idea of the “Never Trumpers” because I can relate to that. My father, who grew up in California, was born to a conservative house. He is a Republican, but he never was for Trump and in fact he didn’t vote during the Election of 2016. I think my father acknowledges that Trump has improved the economy of the country and you can see that directly in the market which my father works in. So, he certainly appreciates the economic success, but I think it is Trump’s image that throws him off. Trump’s image shadows over his successes and it is something that many people cannot get over. I like to look at this situation as a lesson of you can’t have it all; however, Trump is too extreme in his views and not right for America.
In answering your first question about how public opinion on Trump has changed, I believe the results have varied greatly amongst the population. I have seen people who before the election were totally against Trump but ever since he became president they have supported him because they believe everyone should support the president, even if it is not who they wanted to be elected. On the other hand, some people who were initially in support of and voted for Trump have shifted their opinions based off of some of his actions in office. Additionally, I think everyone has the right to their own opinion and should be able to voice it, so if that includes hatred towards the president it is just for someone to show that provided that they have evidence why.
I find it interesting to view the ways in which celebrities have responded to Trump both when he was a candidate as well as him as our president. I find it to be very rare that a celebrity speaks out that they like and support Trump. One reason that this is possibly because celebrities, in general, do not like him as our president or even as a person, but it causes me to question whether or not this is due to a celebrity not wanting to receive a negative image for showing him support. We are able to watch as celebrities with big names such as Madonna, Meryl Streep, Amy Schumer, and Cher openly object to Trump and both his candidacy and presidency. We even see celebrities posting propaganda like photographs signifying both killing and injuring Trump, which is terrifying that people are able to rally behind such spiteful, graphic images. Although, we do see posts such as that by Kathy Griffin, destroy her career. I find there are many less who support him in the same way that he is opposed. Do they just not openly speak about it or do they just rarely exist? Do few people in the industry support him or are there drastically fewer who do than do not? How many of these people in the industry base their stance off of what they believe their followers want to here or off of what they feel is socially acceptable? Additionally, I find it very powerful for celebrities to speak out on their opinions because it provides such a great influence as many value what they have to say. Many people look up to celebrities and therefore can potentially be influenced by what those that are in the spotlight have to say.
I think it is a very interesting point that Trump is seen as facing the most opposition in presidential history. I think this is largely due to the prevalence of the media. Back before cell phones, people got their news from watching TV or reading the newspaper. In modern times, there are so many news sources es pumping out news constantly, sometimes even pumping out “fake news”. The media has often times painted Trump as a monster, lending to the opposition he faces in society. Additionally, I like how you noted that Trump has not changed much in the face of immense criticism. Trump’s stubborn personality has gotten him into some trouble, but it has also helped him lead effectively in instances such as North Korea, where he would not back down. Overall, you bring up some solid points here and back them up with solid evidence.
Your ERA did a good job summarizing this chapter. You brought up a lot of Hansen’s important points involving the hatred towards Trump. I think a main reason people hate him so much stems out further than simply looking at what he wants to accomplish as President. A lot of people dislike that but something that adds to this hatred is his personality. His cockiness and stubbornness makes people who dislike Trump for his political opinions hate him even more. There are obviously things people will disagree with regarding every President because no one is completely compatible with everyone but some of Trump’s personality traits make Trump as president an even harder pill to swallow for some people.