The extent of homegrown totalitarianism personified by the forthcoming president is in no way extraterrestrial. Back in March 2019, with hopes of presidential candidacy, Joe Biden called for a meeting with his trusted ally, Ron Klain, in his residential town of Wilmington, Delaware. At 76, Biden, a political relic, was commonly considered past his prime a notion he vehemently disagreed with. Rather, he felt motivated by the disgrace of Trump’s presidency marked by bold racial bias and overtly dismissive stance towards international foreign policies.
As reported in Bob Woodward’s recent publication, Biden expressed to Klain how Trump’s political approach is drastically skewed. He saw his final mission in politics as overcoming Trump in the elections and extinguishing the looming danger of Trumpism to American democracy. Yet, if eliminating Trump and Trumpism was Biden’s ultimate goal, it can only be surmised that he miserably failed.
Biden’s temporary victory in the 2020 elections only delayed the inevitable ascendancy of Trumpism. Despite his commendable accomplishments as a domestic president, passing the most substantial expansion of social policy since the 1960s, it all came to naught. Trump’s triumphant return to power in 2024, ironically, owes more to Joe Biden than anyone else.
His defeat wasn’t just a personal blow, but a considerable political and ideological one. Identifying himself as the antithesis of Trump, Biden gravely misunderstood the essence of Trump and his doctrine. Biden’s fundamental error, shared by other moderates, was perceiving Trump as a foreign anomaly in an otherwise sound America.
Politicians opposed to the existing system can either lean right or left. Among the left inclined are notable figures like Bernie Sanders from the United States, Jeremy Corbyn from England, and Claudia Sheinbaum from Mexico. Trump has significant similarities with his right-leaning peers, such as Victor Orbán of Hungary, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, and Marine Le Pen of France.
However, it should be acknowledged that these parallels are simply responses to the same political era and exchange of ideologies across borders. It’s utterly different from being a tool or asset of another country. Trump embodies right-wing opposition to the system in a distinctly American way.
The recognition of Trump as a characteristically American figure situates him on the same spectrum as baseball and apple pie, albeit much less wholesome. He symbolizes the murkier aspects of American individualism and disregard for law. In order to grasp Trump, one must delve into the deep-seated history of right-wing opposition to the system in America.
Tracing back to the racial backlash against Reconstruction, the peculiar American tradition that birthed Trump includes multiple iterations of the Ku Klux Klan, along with the populist rhetoric of Huey Long and Joseph McCarthy. Upon Trump’s reclaiming of power, the delusions of Joe Biden, who pursued a futile politics of reinstatement, can no longer be entertained.
In order to counteract right-wing opposition to the system, moderate fantasies about America’s inherently blameless history must be discarded. Biden gambled his political career on his erroneous comprehension of Trump. Deeming Trump a foreign element in America, Biden failed to grasp the allure of Trump’s distinctly American appeal.
According to surveys, the vast majority of Americans, a staggering 65-70%, are discontented with the nation’s direction. Given these circumstances, the only viable route for the Democrats was to embrace left-wing opposition to the system. This tactic was a spectacular disaster.
In light of such monumental failure, we must turn our attention to those on the left who see right-wing opposition for what it is, devoid of illusions. Biden’s blind optimism of his principles, clearly failing to resonate with the masses, highlights the need to revisit strategies. And as Trump resurges, the country can ill-afford any more mistakes like those of the derisory Biden era.