The people have spoken. Donald Trump is headed back to the White House. His victory was dreaded by some but cherished by others. There are lessons everywhere you look. This is not a time to be afraid to face the unpleasant truth but an opportunity to learn with humility. Interestingly enough there are a significant amount of lessons for the Trump team and the Republican party that if ignored will bring the same fate as the Kamala Harris 2024 campaign.

Ever since his first victory in 2016, Donald Trump was a hunted man politically. His character was constantly under attack because of his social media antics. His political integrity was highly derided because he seemed open to conversation with other world leaders who were to be considered personae non grata. He seemed too comely with Vladimir Putin. He dared to have a summit with Kim Jong Il of North Korea and he furthered the agenda of Israeli political maven, Benjamin Netanyahu through the Abraham Accords. He pulled the United States out of the Iran Deal, The Paris Climate Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. According to political precedent he was bucking the system. He was going against the plan. 

Despite such policy deviations, Trump’s greatest foil was the carrying the reputation of being the reincarnation of a notorious failed artist from the once Weimar Republic who turned it into the Third Reich. This smear is the death knell to any white man in the West. It did not help that the majority of the white supremacist organizations liked Trump. Endorsements which he largely disavowed. However, it was to the benefit of his opponents to assume he embraced rather than disavowed those endorsements. His comments against them were edited out when he addressed the Charlottesville marches or when he addressed the killing of George Floyd. Trump had either become the target or scapegoat of much of American discontent. It was a common disclaimer among several Americans to preface any statements referring to Trump with expressions such as;

“While he’s narcissist..”, “He’s such a moron…”, “While he’s such a horrible person…”

He personified the disgust we were all supposed to separate ourselves from as freedom-democracy-loving Americans. 

On the other hand, the economy was steady. Interest rates were low. Inflation was tempered and unemployment was the lowest it had been in over a decade. There were no new wars that the US was looking to engage in. There was military activity but no new war declarations. After the elimination of the Iranian military Chief, Kassem Souleimani, I.S.I.S somehow either disappeared or chose to go under the radar. The economy felt more stable for the average American citizen. The actual fiscal statistics were more reflective of an economy in recovery and thus not quite ideal or in surplus but in terms of public perception things were great.

Then came Covid. No one was prepared for the onslaught of disruption that the Covid lockdowns brought on the World, much less the American daily life. The one thing Trump had going for his administration went out the window as several people were put out of work for fear of infection. He launched  Operation Warp Speed to bring about a new type of vaccine that ended up producing social warfare around masking, mandating and medicating. The case for him being an enemy to the institutions was exacerbated. This time, it meant he was a threat to human life. That was the beginning of the foil. 

By January 7th 2021, Donald Trump was officially the most despised man in America. He was barred from all social media; Facebook (now Meta), Instagram, Twitter (now X), YouTube and TikTok. He could not appear on any programs and was barred from releasing statements directly to the public. What took place on January 6th as some Americans protesting the results of the election on Capitol Hill turned into a faux Bastille. There was no guillotine but some lives were lost. But most importantly the political fate of Donald Trump was sealed. The proverbial head of the anti-establishment snake had been cut off. 

About 20 months later, there was a mid-term election which was set to reflect the overall sentiment of the country from post-election discontent to Covid mandate deliberations and the fallout from the Supreme Court decision to the return of Roe vs Wade to the determination of the states. There was a nationwide expression of discontent from women across class and ethnicity for this decision but they were largely liberal. There were conservatives who warned of a red wave that would offset the gains of the Biden-Harris administration. On the appointed election day, Tuesday, November 8th 2022, there was no red wave. No recount needed. The fate was sealed. The liberal perspective had won the populace. Time to move on? 

No. For some reason there was more to make of Trump’s defeat. There was no money to be made from it as he was no longer on mainstream media. There was no rivalry to be defeated as he had lost two major elections back to back. Somehow, there was still a fear that like the Phoenix, he would rise again. So then came the court cases. You may have heard the idiom; “Don’t dance on someone’s grave.” The onslaught of court cases from the fraud case against the Trump foundation for campaign finance malfeasance, or the sexual battery case involving E. Jean Carroll to the election racketeering case in the state of Georgia were thrown in like vegetables and spices with a slow cooking soup. This was not dancing on Trump’s political grave. This was throwing a rave. . 

This did not go unnoticed. I remember the views of a TikTok video recorded by some people in Georgia as Trump’s presidential caravan made its way to the police precinct. People seemed stunned at the fate of a former president. That he was being humiliated this much. In the space of a minute or less in this video, we see shock turn to cheer. I felt a chill down my spine. Black men and women lining the street cheering for Donald Trump – The racist? 

The following day, what was supposed to be turned into a laughing stock photo of Trump turned into a bestseller. Trump wasted no time turning this into an opportunity to make money. More and more people started to speak up on the volume of charges being launched at a former president on the cusp of an election. People watched as a man who was not allowed on mainstream media suddenly became the main topic on the airwaves albeit as a criminal. It did not sit right.It seemed like lawfare. Most politicians needed mainly ONE scandal or gaff to lose their position of prominence in an electoral race. Trump had everything but a bullet thrown at him.

And then there was Thomas Matthew Crooks. On July 13th 2024, he almost blew Donald Trump’s brain with a bullet if not for the fortune of a head turn. In my view, this was the turn. It did not change who was planning on voting for him nor did it really change those who viewed his candidacy as a political catastrophe. But for those who were on the fence who were questioning the lawfare, this moved the needle. What about Trump was so dangerous that he had to be killed to hide it. The United States in the land of the underdog. That is the favorite character archetype of the American hero. The person with all odds against them that did the most with the least. In movies like Rambo, Die Hard, Rocky Balboa, Rain Man… We have generations of Americans (Millennials, Gen X and Boomers) came of age with these stories. We also came up with tragedies of JFK, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. These men are considered American heroes for daring to question the status quo and losing their lives on account of it. It is pretty fair to assume most people of good conscience would have loved to see what these men would have accomplished if not for those bullets. 

The tone of the race changed from that day onward. Trump was now a truly hunted man. The average American no longer wanted to be a bystander in the public castigation of this man. The love for myth reversal was in order. People decided they were not going to wash their hands like Pontius Pilate. They were not going to watch a crucifixion they could stop. Despite being a Christian country, the celebration of Christ is only tolerated because of his resurrection. The passion of Christ is still very much a tragedy for most sensibilities. 

More and more podcasts began to voice their support for Trump and announce their skepticism at how he had been prosecuted over the last two years. The tide turned and it was not about argument. People were coming at this from the very conviction that was supposed to be oriented toward averting the bull to our proverbial china shop democracy. Now there was a reversal. Trump was not the bull. It no longer felt like it. 

The main issue was that even those who did not want to vote for him purely on ideological differences were no longer able to exaggerate their position with fear tactics. They had to use simple logical arguments. The sad part about this is that his platform had a lot that could be disputed. But there was a new elephant in the room. 

Was anyone who was considered mainstream viable that was vociferously against Trump any longer credible? We were not going to find out until election day. And on election day we did. I believe the independent voters saved the day for Trump in this election. Truth be told, I do not think any of these voters have gone republican. I just think Trump won the vote on pure thirst for heroic redemption. Kamala had a very short campaign and a tight agenda to be able to make any serious changes. She seemed to be supported by all the aspects that had now shown themselves to harbor shades of deception. And in so doing their attempts at deception proved way more insidious than whatever they seemed to be accusing him of. 

Truth be told, Trump does not have public favor completely in his corner. He succeeded in exposing the media charade but people are onto what deception looks like. Should he play the same game that nearly got him killed he can be sure the public will turn on him too. The American people are wide awake and they are done making villains or heroes out of a single individual.