Dr Harry Bennett writes:

“Trump slammed him to the floor pinning him to the ground. He then proceeded to punch him repeatedly in the head. Then, using a couple of muscle guys for assistance, he shaved the head of the man he had assaulted.”

No, dear reader, you are not reading the latest set of allegations against Donald J. Trump. This is a factual account of what transpired on 1 April 2007 at a sporting event at Ford Field Detroit, Michigan. The event was televised before a worldwide audience and the clip isn’t hard to find on YouTube. As we contemplate the third and final debate between the presidential candidates the incident, for some observers, has curious relevance in explaining some of the more bizarre aspects of Donald Trump’s campaign.

Sport and American politics are, of course, “old friends”. Sport is hard-wired into the American national identity and politicians have drawn on sporting metaphors, analogies and heroes in many campaigns.

At the 1988 Republican National Convention, as he endorsed George Bush as candidate for the forthcoming election, film actor and outgoing President Ronald Reagan used the slogan ‘Win one for the Gipper’ to rapturous applause. The slogan referenced Reagan’s Role in the 1940 film Knute Rockne, in which he played George Gipp a talented college football player who died of an infection in 1920. Days before his tragic death Gipp had helped Notre Dame to a famous victory over rivals Northwestern, and on his death bed Gipp turned to his coach Knute Rockne to ask for the team to ‘Win one for the Gipper’. Reagan acted out the scene in 1940, and George W. Bush made reference to it again, following Reagan’s passing in 2004, at the Republican National Convention as he prepared to fight for a second term later that year.

In 2016, presidential politics appears to have turned away from the old reliable “family values”, “All-American” sports of baseball and grid iron football. A growing number of commentators are suggesting that Trump has to be understood in the context of professional wrestling: a sport which “The Donald” has long had an intimate association. The event at which Trump “assaulted” his opponent was Wrestlemania XXIII, the annual wrestling showcase of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc (WWE) owned by Vince McMahon. McMahon was the victim of Trump’s attentions in what was billed as “The Battle of the Billionaires” with a dispute between the two businessmen being settled by their champions in the ring: the loser forfeiting their hair.

Trump’s involvement with the sport, and with WWE, goes much further than this. Wrestlemania III and IV were held at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and the billionaire was honoured at both events. At Wrestlemania VII, one of Trump’s lady friends played the role of a celebrity time keeper, and at Wrestlemania XX in 2004, “The Donald” was interviewed by Jesse Ventura, the former WWE wrestler who had recently stepped down as the Governor of Minnesota (Reform Party). In 2013, to the surprise of many, Trump was inducted into the WWE “Hall of Fame”.

Such is Trump’s long association with the sport that NPR ran a report in April 2016 drawing attention to the similarities between his campaign style and the world of professional wrestling. The previous month the venerable journal The Atlantic ran a report which went even further in suggesting that Trump’s campaign style mirrored the role of a pro wrestling “heel” (a character designed by their vocal outbursts, behaviour towards opponents and body language to antagonise the audience in order to create “heat”).

The article drew on a feature piece by Rolling Stone in February 2016 which noted that “a lot of Trump’s political act seems lifted from bully-wrestlers”. The flow of comment on Trump’s campaign style, and some features of the highly theatrical world of professional wrestling, have continued throughout the year culminating in the publication of Chris Kelly and Brandon Wetherbee’s book on The Donald: How Trump Turned Presidential Politics into Pro Wrestling.

On the face of it, the idea that Donald Trump in political terms is consciously playing the role of a pro-wrestling “heel” is ridiculous. “Heels” generate “heat” with an audience in order to create an emotional pay-off when they lose to a good, honest, decent opponent. To play the “heel” in presidential politics is to invite the kind of electoral defeat in November which many are predicting for Mr Trump. The idea may, however, have some value in speaking to the deeper truths of his campaign.

For one thing wrestling is solidly blue-collar in its orientation, and this appears to be the section of society that Trump is most comfortable in reaching out to. Secondly, wrestling relies on the same suspension of disbelief that appears to be at the heart of Trump’s relationship with his supporters.

Many wonder, amidst the outbursts, allegations, strange changes of policy and sheer outlandishness of some of his ideas how can anyone support him? Wrestling, like campaign Trump, is about faith and a willingness to continue believing no matter what: outbursts are passion, the allegations are false, changes of policy are detail and if some have problems with his ideas then they are just not clever enough to grasp them.

A broad section of the electorate wants to believe in Trump. Most especially, they want to believe in change for they live in a society where for many the American dream has turned sour.

In the 1988 science fiction film “They Live”, WWE Wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper discovers that aliens have taken over the United States to create a society where the little guy can no longer prosper. The aliens live amongst us behind disguises topped with outlandish and rather unruly hair pieces. Piper’s response is to “Make America Great Again” by “chewing gum and kicking ass” and he’s “all out of gum”.

Trump’s campaign taps into the same dissatisfaction and sense of alienation. In July 2016, the website inverse.com ran a piece headlined ‘Donald Trump is Bizarro Rowdy Roddy Piper in “They Live”’. Trump’s campaign and pro wrestling are about hope that change is possible and the establishment can be overturned.

If Trump’s rhetoric appears outlandish it is to tap into this belief and hope for change while covering the fact that he is very much part of the establishment (even if it is not part of the Republican branch of the establishment). Trump alien “They Live” masks and hairpieces are on sale in the United States for this Halloween in mockery of his status as an establishment outsider, and his own campaign polemic against “aliens” from south of the Rio Grande. There was some amusement at recent Washington Post reports that Linda McMahon, former Republican Candidate for the Senate and the wife of Vince “WWE” McMahon, had given the Trump campaign $6million while condemning his views on women.

Other parts of the world of wrestling have been less understanding of Trump’s campaign and his behaviour. Trump’s defence of “locker room talk” to cover a recorded conversation in which he appeared to describe sexual assaults on women was publicly demolished on CNN by Maria Kanellis-Bennett. As a female professional wrestler she had appeared six years ago on a celebrity edition of Trump’s “The Apprentice” only to be fired for “locker room talk” far milder than the revealing words the billionaire had used.

In the Trump campaign for the presidency in 2016, wrestling and politics have become strangely connected. Both have given Trump the chance to enjoy the spotlight, extending his television presence, and perhaps to “The Donald”, both are little more than passing entertainments. Win or lose in November Trump will have had his fun.