With the American elections due in November, and Trump polling at 52%, it is not unfeasible that his residence in the White House may be resumed. It is feared that he will “return with a vengeance,” ruthlessly securing the government to serve his whims.
He declared himself that he would be “a dictator on day one.” He is currently battling numerous lawsuits, facing a whopping 91 counts of felony. There is a substantial accumulation of soundbites of his ludicrous, dangerous declarations: that injecting disinfectant could cure Covid-19, that if Ivanka was not his daughter “perhaps [he’d] be dating her”, that climate change is a Chinese hoax.
So, how is Trump a legitimate contender in the 2024 election?
Why do people vote for him regardless of every controversial statement he makes?
Trump is not supported in spite of his controversiality, but because of it. What Trump supporters most adore about this figure is how polarising and charismatic he is.
In the past decades, politics and celebrity culture have become inextricably linked. Exacerbated by our constant connection to TV and social media, we focus more than ever on the personality of a politician over the policy that hides behind the big, orange caricature.
Boris Johnson, who displayed many striking parallels to Trump, also monopolized off a striking character. Purposefully creating a dishevelled look and stammering improvised nonsense, he created a character of an honest and relatable British man, despite his Eton upbringing. Many did not vote for Johnson’s policy but for Johnson as the façade he created.
Yet in America the celebrity status of politicians is greatly magnified, giving power even to the relatives of presidents in the public eye, like the grand status of First Lady. The reason Trump has so many supporters is because he is great at being a celebrity.