BY MIKE STROMME
Donald Trump is the biggest con man in American politics and everyone is falling for it. Whether you feverishly support or protest his efforts to “make America great again,” it works for him. He’s playing the competition, his supporters, his “haters” and the media like an orchestra and turning his campaign into a political freight train to the likes of which nobody has ever seen before, and here’s how.
Say what you want about some of Trump’s failed business ventures: Trump University, Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka and the United States Football League (to name a few); the man still has a net worth of $4.5 billion according to Forbes. Sure, he might have gotten a little help from Papa Trump to get started, but still, you don’t get to be that wealthy overnight. The man clearly knows how to get what he wants, and the likes of Jeb Bush, Ben Carson and Chris Christie found out the hard way. With Ted Cruz, the next domino to fall, it’s only a matter of time before victory is his.
Step one in the Trump campaign, say something that will get mass press coverage, rile up the uneducated and alienate the left-wing, politically-correct mass public. Ergo, the “Mexico’s sending us their rapists and murderers, let’s build a wall and make them pay for it” and the “ban all Muslims” and other such bigoted rhetoric. Not only does this “telling it like it is” mantra shake the cages of the CNN and Fox News masses who cannot think for themselves, it royally pisses off the politically-correct left-wing, which he then uses to his advantage. Every protest at every Trump rally, every jab given out by The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, every time his outlandish comments get “negative press,” it strengthens his support.
Trump has mastered the art of using the enemy, whether that’s illegal immigration, the threat of terrorism, or those who don’t agree with him, to his advantage. His supporters have an us-against-them mentality, and the left is the enemy. He has his public convinced that the reason why their quality of life isn’t where it should be is because those who are different are infringing on them. All the protests and all the negative press that surrounds Trump is used as fuel for his supporters. It’s all a ploy, a scam, a con, use whatever term you want, it’s all working to his advantage.
Will all Muslims get banned and deported? Probably not. The economical and logistics of his eccentrically-bigoted campaign promises are enormous and just not practical. There’s no way Congress would let any of Trump’s plans come to fruition anyways. Trump even said a wall dividing America and Mexico would cost $11 billion and to have them pay for it just won’t happen.
Ban all Muslims? How? There are many living in the U.S. who are citizens. How can you possibly deport someone from their country of origin? Where would you even send them? See, there’s a ton of holes in this proposal as well. Again, it was only said in order to prey on the primal instincts of his supporters and those who protest the idea of hateful ideologies.
For those who don’t want a Trump presidency, there’s only two things that can be done. The first is, ignore him. While free speech and the right to protest is a big reason why western civilization is free, it’s only throwing gasoline onto the dumpster fire that is the Trump campaign. To him and his supporters, #feelthebern and the pro-Clinton campaign are public enemy No. 1. All protests do is support that fear. It may be hard to ignore, but that’s what Trump wants, a reaction.
The second step, and the most vital step, is to actually go out and vote. The best way to keep Trump out of the White House is to vote somebody else in. It may seem simple at its core, but it’s the only true disinfectant.
For many, Donald Trump is an easy man to hate. But, that’s exactly what he needs. Stop falling for it.
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