Of course, longstanding exasperation can suddenly snap and rise up with unexpected force. But it is more plausible to see Trump not as the longed-for messiah who dares to voice legitimate mass unease but as an opportunist rabble-rouser who is simply exploiting the various discontents and disappointments that any free society is bound to harbour. Like Howard Beale screaming “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this any more”, Trump has capitalised on the potential volatility of crowds. And, like many demagogues before him, he specifically exploits hatred and fear of the outsider – Mexican “rapists and drug dealers” flooding over the border, and foreign Muslims whom he will ban from the country (presumably even if they are the Egyptian and Jordanian ambassadors to the UN). Anger, of course, begets anger: a counter-demonstration that turned violent forced him to cancel a rally this weekend.