An approach to Donald Trump’s political thought: Is the US President a populist?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21308/recp.52.03Keywords:
Donald Trump, political thinking, president, populism, United StatesAbstract
Both the 2016 US presidential election campaign and Donald Trump’s later presidency have entailed, in several aspects, a break with the traditional practices, uses, modes and forms in Western politics. The constant appeal to voters´ feelings (and low passions), the relativization of facts, the racist, xenophobic, sexist statements and those others hostile to minorities, a home policy rupturist with the past and a grandiloquent foreign policy have all been elements of a government action usually described as chaotic and impulsive, or even as childish and irrational. President Trump is usually accused of being a populist. This article aims at offering an approach to Trump’s political thought checking it against a series of elements deemed characteristic of populism. This will, in turn, allow to assess the extent to which the current host of the White House can be considered as a populist or not. Ultimately, the conclusion is reached that it is certainly possible to do so.
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