Editorial: The Trump Factor

A recent social media post doing the rounds in America says: “Jesus was convicted in a sham trial.... And crucified. I still follow him!” This slightly blasphemous message in its equivalence to Donald Trump is as clear a show of support to the former US president as possible and is indicative of the kind of mass following he still enjoys. Therefore, his indictment on all 34 counts in the Stormy Daniels hush money case making him a convicted felon is unlikely to impact his presidential bid. Latest polls have indicated that only a small fraction of non-Democratic voters will be wary of voting for Trump if he is found guilty in the hush money case. The overwhelming majority of Republican voters still favour him. The narrative that has been spun around the court cases that he is facing is that it is a witch-hunt meant to bog him down and hamper his presidential campaign.

Trump, who is locked in a tight contest with President Joe Biden, is leading the polls if only marginally. The American Constitution unlike the Indian one does not bar a convicted felon from contesting the election. The former US president has described his trial as rigged and declared that justice is dead in the USA. The day after his conviction he secured a record amount in funding from donors, many of them Indian Americans. The possible return of Trump to the helm of affairs does not bode well for the world given his inability to take a nuanced stand on the Israel-Palestine crisis or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. His extreme views on migrants and illegal immigrants forebode a churning in American society that it will find difficult to recover from. The melting pot of the world may turn insular and hostile to those who do not fit the stereotype. Whether America will survive another Trump presidency remains to be seen. The world’s oldest democracy faces tough times ahead.