
Trump 2.0 is upon the United States of America and many must be wondering how Donald Trump was able to win the elections so convincingly this time around, even after being convicted of a number of felonies and despite being almost the same age as the ancient Joe Biden who was deemed too old to serve by his countrymen.
There are many theories on how he pulled off one of the greatest political comebacks of all time, especially considering that when he lost the same race just a couple of years ago, he threw a tantrum that included attempting a coup by encouraging his supporters to attack the US Capitol. That incident sent 1,600 of those violent heretics to jail, but now that he’s back in power, one of his first executive orders was to pardon them all.
Do Americans really have a short memory? Do they have extremely low standards for their leaders? Or is the selection process of their political parties so bad, that the choices they were left with seemed like it was between the devil and the deep blue sea?
Whatever it was, enough Americans believed Trump’s messaging that he is the better guy to put back in power. He made them feel threatened enough by his opponent and what she stood for, that they could bear to ignore the criminal record, the accusations of sexual assault, his shoddy business record, his advanced age and the suspicions of dementia, which are just among a few of the numerous red flags that were being waved right in front of their faces.
The economy and immigration may have been a major talking point, but one of the main issues that Trump’s team was hyperfocused on was their stand against the aggressive ‘woke’ culture, as he made it a point to constantly harp against matters like transgender transitions in public institutions such as schools and prisons, to the point of making up false claims just to keep it in the conversation, rile up his base and anyone and everyone who was happening to be listening to his rants.
The importance of those issues to his presidency became obvious when it was among the many priority executive orders signed by Trump as he made a hefty number of bold statements to the nation on his first day of office, right after his inauguration.
The Trump 2.0 government will henceforth recognize only two official genders, and it will also end all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. This is his way of telling his base that he was serious when he said he will do something about this issue while he was on the campaign trail, and if you come to think of it, it is also aimed at endearing him more to the older demographic who were silent but uncomfortable with the way their society had been transforming in recent years.
The 78-year-old wannabe dictator’s brash counterattack in the simmering culture war is no accident. Donald Trump wants to be seen as taking the offensive to gain back the ground that has been lost to the liberals and the so-called woke, to assure his generation and base, along with those who don’t understand why they have to understand the new culture that is being forced down their throats by a loud and aggressive minority, that he will be fighting for them in this war of pronouns.
Unlike imposing tariffs or doing something about the war in Ukraine, making this obnoxious statement of Trump costs nothing, because he is already seen as the devil incarnate by those he has chosen to offend. However, for those non-Trump supporters who have been struggling to understand the nuances of the new ways of using pronouns, his controversial actions will have earned him some begrudging points.
While they will definitely want to fight back against this brazen attack, those who have been eagerly pushing the woke agenda, which has been met with relative success in recent years, might want to take a step back and reflect on how and why Trump won. Perhaps they have been pushing too hard, to the point of being aggressive and abrasive, which could’ve turned off and pushed those who really didn’t prioritize their agenda, but were being badgered and harassed into concerns like figuring out pronoun usage, and ending up casting a vote for Trump, simply because the world has becoming too annoying.
I am all for positive change and progress, even if this particular issue is something I’d rather not spend too much time on, for fear of being cancelled for saying the wrong thing. But as an ‘older’ person, as a parent of teenagers who has to deal with these issues with the most open mind possible, my advice to those fighting for it is to try being less abrasive and annoying, as that approach could help stop more potential con men from taking advantage of this culture war the way Trump did to become president again. It was not the only issue, not even the main issue that Trump has taken advantage of in his return to power, but it is something that those fighting the culture war, or any kind of revolution, have to think about.*