Aith the re-election of Donald Trump, 47e President of the United States, democracy has given birth to one of its offspring which could almost make us doubt its validity. The meaning to be given to the return to power of Trumpism varies according to each person's political grid. On the right, it marks the triumph of popular common sense, driven by the need to satisfy basic needs (food, housing), expressing the rejection of intellectual and media elites. On the left, he points out the “systemic stupidity” of the masses deceived by a boastful showman and voting against their racial and class affiliation. On the right, we will read with satisfaction the rejection of “wokism”; on the left, we will see with anguish the denial of collective decency.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Common sense in politics, a formidable democratic misinterpretation
Read later
The results can, however, be analyzed in the light of more objective factors: the racialization of American society (91% of black women voted for Kamala Harris; 60% of white men for Trump); the deculturation of the conservative electorate (Republican voters without higher education are three times more numerous than Democratic ones); the leftism of the Democratic base (12 million votes for Biden in 2020 fell short of Harris in 2024, due to support considered unambiguous for Israel and an absence of ecological and civic projects); the failure of the outgoing vice-president's too-short campaign; Trump's scorched earth policy (blocking the vote on immigration), which was able to capitalize on the discontent of a population having had to face 20% inflation in four years; the proliferation of disinformation often relayed by the social network X, formerly Twitter, owned by Elon Musk, who campaigned for Donald Trump.
Legitimization by victory
These sociological, economic or communicational explanations, however, mask the essential. The election of Trump falls within the historical framework of what Nietzsche called the “nihilism”defined by the emergence of resentment as the ultimate collective passion. By contesting the results of the 2020 election, Trump has made the 2024 vote an instrument of revenge. The rallying of the stars of cinema and song to Harris further strengthened the desire for punishment of the “elites”. We naively wonder why so many people voted for Trump, when he portrays an egotistical, racist, misogynistic, megalomaniac, etc. character. This shows that we didn't really understand: what people liked about Trump was precisely that he was in no way a model.
You have 56.37% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
