In the eyes of his voters, Donald Trump can do no wrong.
Trump has proven himself over and over again to be completely malleable on the promises he made to voters during his campaign for the presidency. He doesn’t have the stamina required to be an effective president, because actually sitting down and learning about the issues he’s attempting to fix would require reading more words than what can fit on a Fox News ticker. Trump has betrayed his voters multiple times, proving that he will say anything to keep them angry, even tell bold-faced lies.
But again, his voter base couldn’t care less. This is because, in their eyes, Trump is a messiah. Their support isn’t philosophical, but rather, it is theological.
Trumpism is a religion founded on bigotry and white supremacy.
It is the widely upheld belief in this country that even the least qualified, anti-intellectual, scandal-plagued, most vile candidate is sufficient enough to follow in the footsteps of the nation’s first black president.
After the 2016 presidential election, Ta-Nehisi Coates described Donald Trump as America’s first white president. Coates is referring to whiteness as the negation of blackness, and that Trump’s entire platform was built upon the negation of President Barack Obama’s legacy.
By continuing to support President Trump, American voters are screaming that even the least-qualified white man is better than the most-qualified black man. Trump represents white people’s ability to be wrong, but still be right. He is the embodiment of white privilege and white power.
This idea of elevating the lowest white man over the highest black man is nothing new, it is woven into the very foundation of our nation. It’s as President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
No matter how many times he continues to fail, Trump’s exploits will continue to be viewed as successes. White voters have deemed him a correction to Barack Obama and a superior choice to Hillary Clinton. White supremacy demands it, as do his supporters.