The 2016 presidential race has seen an interesting cast of characters, but none have taken the spotlight more the Donald J Trump. He’s brash, unapologetic, and is currently making his way to the White House. And with the political complications as of late, such as Super-Pacs, delegate votes, and the republican and democratic party, to name a few, it is still surprising to see Donald Trump rising in the polls and taking the country by storm. He’s insulted almost every group and demographic, yet there is still a significant margin from those groups that are still willing to vote for him. Even members of the Democratic Party are threatening to vote for Trump if Hillary Clinton becomes the Democratic nominee. Clearly, there is something caustic about Donald Trump which is both divisive and extraordinary. But is it so easy to explain? What is it about Donald Trump which has now ignited the country into an uproar, and as a direct result could lead to his presidency? There are many contributing factors, both cultural and political, which could explain Donald Trump’s popularity as well as his ability to defy logic and change the political realm irrevocably.
One of Donald Trump’s most appealing quality’s, if you can call it that, is that he’s an “outsider” to the political realm. This term has been used a lot to describe him but, in a way he’s also an insider. Because he has made many donations to many currently seated politician’s political campaigns, including Hillary Clinton’s at one point, he has the embedded ability to call any one of them out on being at the mercy of donors. It would be like if one of the Koch brother’s came out hiding, ran for president, called all of his opponents’ hypocrites, and won by a landslide. Donald Trump brags tremendously about how he is funding his own campaign, and doesn’t need Super-Pac money. In reality, he really doesn’t due to one factor: the media’s free coverage of him. Every single news channel has talked non-stop about Donald Trump and his statements become more infectious by the day. The media feeds into his statements, which he acknowledges and stands by, and in turn the American people are being fed this constant exposure of bigotry, xenophobia, and a number of other ideas which feeds into their own insecurities and bias’s. However, to better explain the Trump phenomenon, one must be both introspective and also observe the culture that surrounds us. Social media has contributed greatly in Donald Trump’s rise.
Unlike a majority of candidates that ran during the 2016 presidential race, no one has been able to tap into the minds of the masses through social media like Donald Trump. Nightly, he attacks other politicians, news-reporters, and practically everyone he disagrees with. He purposely insults and provokes his opponents into starting a “twitter war”, in which he goats people into stooping to his level of rhetoric. In a sense, he has found a way to bend the rules in his favor and has now created a political atmosphere in which traditional politics seemingly have gone the way of the typewriter. But what’s more, there is another distinction about Donald Trump which adds sensationalism to his populism: he is a reflection of the dark side of the United States. He promotes ideas and actions which his other republican establishment opponents would only say behind closed doors. He also encapsulates and embraces the bravado of the worst of the American public, and is able to express these thoughts and ideals with a significant following. In conjunction with the role that social media plays into everyone’s daily lives, it’s no wonder Donald Trump’s narcissism has become everyone else’s mantra. Social media feeds into and promotes narcissism in an unprecedented way, which has created a society of followers. Donald Trump has just tapped into that frame of mind and amplified it. In concurrence with his reality T.V. persona, from which he employs many tactics, He has found a way to turn politics in to a popularity contest. To quote Black Sabbath, “when you listen to fools, the mob rules”.
