“Kamala Harris has been swept away by the wave of discontent sweeping across democracies”

Journalist, essayist, environmental activist and critic of capitalism, Naomi Klein has been, since the publication of her first work, No Logo. The tyranny of brands (Actes Sud, 2001) an essential figure of the North American left. In his essay The Shock Strategy
(Actes Sud, 2008), she analyzed the destabilization of the world by capitalism which ensures to preserve its hold on the world by exploiting moments of crisis. Naomi Klein publishes today The Double. Journey into the mirror world (Actes Sud, 496 pages, 24.80 euros), where she is interested in the influence of online conspiracyism and the future of the left.

What does Donald Trump's victory inspire you?

This is an overwhelming result, for the planet and for peace in the Middle East. But am I surprised by his election? No. European and British elections [qui se sont respectivement déroulées en juin et en juillet] already demonstrated that there is a thirst for change. Anger is widespread and our fellow citizens are voting to remove from power those who rule their country, regardless of their political sensibilities.

But, coming back to the United States, I believe that the main person responsible for Trump's victory is Joe Biden. He should have announced that he was giving up running in December 2023, and not waiting until July as he did. By withdrawing earlier, Joe Biden would have allowed the organization of a primary. As time ran out, Kamala Harris won, but it was impossible for her as vice-president to present herself as the candidate embodying change. It was therefore swept away by the wave of discontent sweeping through democracies.

The worst part is that it is not the elites of the Democratic Party who will pay the price for their mistake, it is the ordinary people who will suffer the most from this result, those whom the party chose to ignore during the campaign. The strategy adopted was insane to anyone who knows how to mobilize the vote. The Democratic Party has taken the support of its working-class, white and Latino electorate for granted. He got closer to Liz Cheney [qui a fait campagne avec Kamala Harris] and his father, Dick Cheney [vice-président des Etats-Unis sous George W. Bush]. This man embodies everything my generation hates about the Republican Party, the lies used to justify the war in Iraq.

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