What Trump means for us

If a friend had described what the current state of the 2016 Presidential Election would be like to me many months ago, I would have scoffed at her — Hillary Clinton scrambling for “likeability” and still answering questions about emails. Bernie Sanders, who I would consider to be the closest thing we have to the people’s candidate, closely trailing her. Jeb Bush, whose announcement was so hotly anticipated, barely in the headlines.

Yet the greatest shock — and my greatest disappointment — has been the rise of Donald Trump.

Granted, this is not Trump’s first run for President. He briefly ran for the Reform Party’s nomination a decade and a half ago. But it is the first time he has had a legitimate possibility of becoming the Presidential nominee of a major political party.

In the end, will he win? Probably not. The primaries are still months away. The great Class of 2016 will have graduated months before the nation reaches the voting booths. While predicted front-runners sometimes fall flat, allowing the “dark horse” to briefly reach the forefront, political gravity always manages to catch up. From Howard Dean to Ross Perot, none have succeeded, only a blip in the history books. Tides are always turning. In such a large field, I have no doubt Trump will soon meet a similar fate.

Yet to come to such a conclusion requires me to ignore all conventional signs and logic. Who leads in all the Republican polls? Trump. Who do Republicans believe is the likeliest to win the nomination? Trump.

However, I still think he is ridiculous. Why? Because for me, he encapsulates the darkest parts of the United States — the parts that make me fume at home, or hang my head in shame while abroad when people think of him instead of all the other great parts of my country. Because in order for me, or anyone else, to accept that Trump is the current front-runner is to accept the idea that millions across the country share these same twisted views as well. It’s just easier to think that everyone else is in on some kind of cruel joke.

His disparaging words towards Megyn Kelly and Carly Fiorina — women of whom I am actually not fond at all — display the ridiculous amount of sexism this country still permits. His inaccurate comments concerning Planned Parenthood, most recently on The View, perfectly demonstrate the tendency of old, white male politicians' uninformed to attempt to police women’s bodies and reproductive health. His inhumane depiction of undocumented immigrants and Mexico reminds us of America’s dark history of xenophobia and distorted views of people of color in general. The number of times his companies have filed for bankruptcy shows blatant manipulation of the law for personal gains in the end — something of which I thought we’d seen enough.

All of this, and I mean, look at that hair!

I cannot stress how much I do not want to take this seriously. I want this to be the first few episodes of a new season of American Idol. (Does that show still exist?) You know the ones, where the producers choose amazingly talented people to appear on TV, but also the wild or wacky ones to keep the audience’s attention. Donald Trump is a wacky one, but somehow Randy Jackson said, “Dog, you are IT,” Paula smiled sweetly and said she wanted to hear more of him. So their poor judgment has overruled Simon Cowell and his pursed lips of annoyance, and Trump makes it to Hollywood. Roll the credits.

But instead of coaching for his singing, many U.S. citizens are looking at him and legitimately seeing him potentially as the next occupant of the White House.

Maybe his support is derived from something other than his policies. I can’t recall the news network or person, but a political analyst took a shot at explaining why Trump has been doing so well. People are seeing a tough outsider, someone without the weight (or experience) of previous politics. Sure, he’s said many controversial and offensive things to a number of people, but his words aren’t registering. His image is.

Trump represents many different things depending on to whom you speak. However, despite the specific policies (that often contradict each other), his appeal seems to be derived from a segment of the country that views him as a last-ditch attempt to make America “America again,” as if something is fundamentally wrong with our country. To this, I disagree. I think today’s America is the best we’ve ever seen, or at least the best I could’ve seen as a black woman. Going back in time would undo all the long overdue progress — legally, socially and politically — that has allowed minority groups to seek their own American Dreams.

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But Trump is not some grandiose American knight or temporary entertainment. He’s a significant threat to American politics, an unfortunately viable candidate for President and a scarily clear look into where we are as a country.

Just hear his words and listen.

Lea Trusty is a politics major from Saint Rose, La. She can be reached at ltrusty@princeton.edu.