The word demagogue refers to a leader who seeks support by appealing to prejudices as opposed to presenting a rational argument. Lately, people have been defining this term a different way: Donald Trump. We are looking at a front runner who plays off the fears and pre-existing biases of many people in our country, and in doing so, is shooting up through the polls. When Trump first announced his candidacy in June of 2015, never in a million years would I have ever believed that I would see this type of success from his campaign. So, why is it working?

There are many factors affecting the less than a satisfactory quality of life for a decent proportion of American citizens, such as unfairly low wages, unequal job opportunity, and supposed threats to our national security. What political agitators like Trump do with these weak points is use them to their advantage. He gives people a scapegoat for their worries and troubles, then provides with an impractical solution, like deporting millions of men, women, and children. In his promise to “make America great again,” Trump is gaining the support of these people that are angry, scared, and searching for an answer to their problems.

While this platform consists of many incredibly deplorable ideals, one of the largest effects that Trump’s campaign has had on American politics as a whole is the polarity of partisanship. There is little gray area when it comes to the support of this demagogic candidate, you either love him or you hate him with a fiery, burning passion. His radical brand of “politics” has divided our country in a way that our political system has never seen before. To put it into context, Trump’s latest conquest in Chicago, Illinois was met with a convergence of two extreme ends of the partisan spectrum, which came to a less than peaceful end. One of the largest protest groups that appeared was the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Rights Reform, with a goal to interrupt the hateful immigration rhetoric and Trump’s own special brand of white supremacy. In addition, this reform group, students at the University of Illinois were integral in the termination of the rally, as well many Black Lives Matter activists, calling to #SHUTITDOWN. And they did. Enough protesters appeared at the event to force the cancellation of the rally altogether.

Many of these activists are being condemned for fighting fire with fire, however, this is the discourse that is expected if not encouraged when the potential leader of our nation is a racist hatemonger, to put it simply. Fellow Republican candidate John Kasich summarized this violent tension quite concisely, stating that "Tonight, the seeds of division that Donald Trump has been sowing this whole campaign finally bore fruit, and it was ugly." The campaign that Trump is running has divided our political system and our country, and will continue to propagate this schism for as long as it can work to his advantage and his alone; encouraging violence, protests, and hateful discussion amongst citizens and leaders alike.