The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election and the Political Demise of Donald J. Trump
Submitted by Noble David H. Jackson, Jr., Ph.D. Ahmed Temple No. 37 Oasis of Tallahassee According to researchers at the Brookings Institution and the Pew Research Center, by 2045 and/or 2050 respectively, racial minorities will comprise the majority population in the United States and the current white majority will become the minority. This is significant because the changing demographics in the country explain much of the extreme behavior seen in America over the last decade, deriving from long held fears regarding white replacement and the prospects of diminishing white privilege. After Barack Obama became president of the United States in 2008, cries of “take our country back” quickly arose from the nascent Tea Party. In short, the election of the first Black, non-white male, president of the United States clearly exacerbated anxieties among a particular demographic in the country, and paved the way for a Donald Trump to emerge as Obama’s successor. Seizing upon the opportunity to delegitimize the first Black president, Trump peddled in racial demagoguery during Obama’s eight-year term, propagating the “birther myth,” which claimed Obama was not a U.S. citizen because he was allegedly born in Kenya. This myth permeated the media and the pressure from it became so great that Obama eventually felt compelled to produce his birth certificate to quiet the unrest. Others joined Trump asserting, pejoratively, that President Obama was a Muslim. These scenarios served as a test case for the ease at which Trump could use race as a wedge issue to divide the country if he ran for office. Trump began his 2016 campaign with the slogan “Make America Great Again,” which some translated into code for “making America white again.” After he became president, he called Mexicans rapists, African countries “shitholes,” said “all Haitians have AIDS,” repeatedly called the COVID-19 the “China virus” and “kung flu,” asserted that white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, were “good people,” told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,” frequently referred to Black women as “nasty,” and even called Vice President Harris, a “monster.” Trump repeated these demeaning characterizations of racial minorities throughout his presidency, all the while claiming that he is “the least racist person” anyone will ever meet. These factors serve as a backdrop to the November 2020 presidential election. This article will provide brief background information on Trump prior to his presidency, reflect on his bid to win a second term as president, and examine the ensuing fallout that occurred after the election. It will also discuss Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic during the campaign, the election of the first female and minority vice president of the U.S., the “big lie” promulgated by Trump Republicans after his defeat, the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, the second impeachment of Donald J. Trump, and finally, present challenges facing the nation. Over his life and career, Donald Trump registered as both a Republican and a Democrat; however, after assessing his best odds for winning a primary contest with one of the major parties, he decided to run for president as a Republican. While he touted his record as being a successful businessman and a “self-made billionaire” to help get himself elected, it turns out that many of his business ventures failed, leading him to file bankruptcy six times between 1991 and 2009, and early on his fa-
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The Desert of Florida’s Oasis Magazine
