August 26, 2016

The Childish Villain-ification Of Donald Trump

This pic comparing a young Donald Trump with a child figure in some old Nazi propaganda was posted by Doug Saunders, supposedly a serious international-affairs columnist at the Canadian Globe and Mail.

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It is illogical, childish nonsense. But Saunders is by far the only one disqualifying himself as serious commentator by posting such bullshit. Indeed, the villain-ification of Donald Trump is a regular feature which runs through U.S. and international media from the left to the right.

A few examples:

Pinochet. Chavez. Trump? - Politico, Cher compares Donald Trump to Hitler at Clinton fundraiser - Foxnews, Cher Slams Trump At Clinton Fundraiser; Likens Him To Stalin - CBS, Cher Compares Trump to Mao - Newsbuster, Trump is the GOP's Frankenstein monster - Washington Post, Biden on Trump: ‘He woulda loved Stalin’ - USAToday, Huffington likens Trump to Kim Jong Un - MSN, What Hugo Chávez and Donald Trump have in common - Reuters, The best way to thwart Trump Vader - CNN, Warning From the Syrian Border: Trump Reminds Us a Bit Too Much of Assad - Rolling Stone, News Quiz: Trump Rally or Erdogan Event? - The Intercept, Trump & Putin. Yes, It's Really a Thing - TPM, Trump’s not Hitler, he’s Mussolini - Salon, Media ethics writer compares Trump to Hitler - Politico, Donald Trump’s Insane Praise of Saddam Hussein - Daily Beast, Trump and Lenin - Miami Herald, Insult, provoke, repeat: how Donald Trump became America's Hugo Chávez - The Guardian, The Unstoppable Trump Monster - The Atlantic, Donald Trump is GOP's Dark Lord Voldemort - Townhall, Donald Trump is The Joker: Forget Mussolini and Hitler - Salon, Donald Trump’s Mansions and Saddam Hussein’s Palaces Are Basically the Same - Vanity Fair, Trump and Baghdadi Join Forces - Huffington Post, Echoes of Joe McCarthy in Donald Trump's Rise - RealClearPolitics, Donald Trump's bromance with Vladimir Putin - CNN, Trump's flirtation with fascism - Washington Post, The Maoism of Donald Trump - The New Yorker.

Is there any villain in U.S. (political) culture Donald Trump has not been compare to? Let me know what to search for.

I doubt that this assault on Trump's character is effective. (Hillary Clinton is a more fitting object.) Potential Trump voters will at best ignore it. More likely they will feel confirmed in their belief that all media and media people are anti-Trump and pro-Clinton.

The onslaught only validates what himself Trump claims: that all media are again him, independent of whatever policies he may promote or commit to.

Trump's economic policies as U.S. president would be catastrophic for those most likely to vote for him. Pointing that out, instead of inventing idiotic comparisons to this or that "bad person", would be more effect in dissuading people from voting for him.

Posted by b on August 26, 2016 at 15:10 UTC | Permalink

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