The Greek word “demagogue” (demos = people + agōgos = leader) literally means “a leader of the people.” Today, however, it’s used to describe a leader who capitalizes on popular prejudices, makes false claims and promises, and uses arguments based on emotion rather than reason.
.. Trump’s self-congratulating rhetoric makes him appear to be the epitome of hubris, which, according to research, is often the least attractive quality of a potential leader. However, Trump is so consistent in his hubris that it appears authentic: his greatness is America’s greatness.
.. On the campaign trail, he’s harnessed his macho businessman persona – crafted through social media and years spent on TV (where he was often the most powerful person in the room) – to make his case for the presidency. It’s a persona that rejects restraints: he speaks of not being constrained by his party, media, other candidates, political correctness, facts – anything, really. In a sense, he’s fashioning himself as an uncontrollable leader.
.. First, Trump draws on the myth of American exceptionalism. He depictes the United States as the world’s best hope: there is only one chosen nation and, as president, all of his decisions work toward making America great. By tying himself to American exceptionalism – while classifying his detractors as “weak” or “dummies” – he’s able to position his critics as people who don’t believe in, or won’t contribute to, the “greatness” of the nation.
.. When opponents question his ideas or stances, he’ll employ ad homenim attacks – or criticisms of the person, rather than the argument (dismissing his detractors as “dummies,” “weak” or “boring”). Perhaps most famously, he derided Carly Fiorina’s appearance when she started to go up in the polls after the first Republican debate (“Look at that face!” he cried. “Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?”).
.. Trump will also employ a rhetorical technique called paralipsis to make claims that he can’t be held accountable for. In paralipsis, the speaker will introduce a topic or argument by saying he doesn’t want to talk about it; in truth, he or she wants to emphasize that very thing.
For example, in New Hampshire on December 1, he said, “But all of [the other candidates] are weak and they’re just weak – I think that they are weak generally if you want to know the truth. But I don’t want to say that because I don’t want to…I don’t want to have any controversies, no controversies, is that okay? So I refuse to say that they are weak generally, okay?”
Fans of the Republican frontrunner are keenly aware of his faults, but when others point them out, it only deepens their loyalty.
Fear was a constant refrain. Even in their own country, many supporters said they don’t feel safe. Trump is the only person capable of steering the country in the right direction. If he isn’t scared of the backlash that words invite, he won’t be scared to stare down the enemy.
“Americans think the country is in crisis,” a participant identified as Jeff said. “I’m attracted to his persona because of what’s happening in the world, international affairs. He stands up there and he gives the image that he’s not going to put up with any crap.”
“The president is not making us feel safe,” another called out. “He wants to yell at us about gun control,” a third chimed in. “We have to protect ourselves!”
.. Luntz put it this way: “The more that you challenge them supporting him, the more people align themselves with him … They don’t like people attacking him, even more than they don’t like what he’s saying.”
Trump: The Man, the Meme
Yet while the frank demagoguery of Trump’s most incendiary statements makes these historical comparisons particularly tempting, he is just the most recent in a line of American politicians to be, in effect, Hitlerized. Hillary Clinton has been reimagined as “Hitlary,” and when Barack Obama, with his plans for extended health coverage, wasn’t being portrayed as the Joker, he was shown made up like the Fuhrer. Before that, it was George W. Bush who was Hitler. This may just be a particularly potent example of what is known as Godwin’s law, which has it, more or less, that every argument will eventually devolve into one side referring to the other as Nazis.
.. If every politician is like Hitler, than what do you call someone who isreally bad? Rosenfeld emphasized that he disagreed with Trump on nearly every issue, but said that there were plenty of homegrown versions of Trump’s kind of rhetoric readily at hand in the history of the United States, including the nineteenth-century Nativist movement, making a reach back to Berlin in the nineteen-thirties not only historically inaccurate, but unnecessary.
.. “The idea that Donald Trump is a Fascist or a Nazi artificially distinguishes him from the rest of the Republican field,” he said. “A claim that he is a Fascist means that the others are somehow qualitatively different. And while Trump is clearly more rhetorically extreme, he shares much in common with the nativism and nationalism of the other Republican candidates.”
It’s Time to Worry About Donald Trump
Appearing on Fox on Thursday, Frank Luntz, the G.O.P. pollster who a few days ago conducted a focus group with Trump supporters that received quite a bit of attention, said it is “time for the Republican establishment to accept the fact that Trump is not only a viable candidate, but this lead is real.” Notwithstanding the fate of previous primary front-runners, the same point could be applied to pundits and everybody else. Right now the question isn’t whether Trump could win the Republican nomination; it’s: What is it going to take to stop him?