PHOTO: A rally in New York
UPDATE 1400 GMT: My interview with BBC Radio Foyle this morning, dissecting Trump’s “smoke and mirrors” — for example, about The Wall — and the idea that he is changing his positions:
Once America talked about the Statue of Liberty, once it talked about Ellis Island being a place of hope for people coming to the country.
And now the whole debate is about walls or fences, barbed wire or razor wire. That’s how much the tone has changed. I don’t recognize the country where I grew up.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Speaking with Monocle 24’s The Globalist on Monday morning, Jeffrey Howard of University College London and I discuss how to deal with Donald Trump’s tactics, after a “toxic campaign” that may portend a toxic Presidency.
See also US Opinion: Trump Is “Gaslighting” Us — It’s Time to Be Strong
It’s a full and forthright discussion, starting with presenter Emma North’s question about “healing the divisions” in America:
Let’s call it what it is. The divisions start with the man at the top, who is exploiting complex issues about race, ethnicity, gender, and class — issues that we’ve been trying to deal with for decades — by throwing a grenade in the room through deception, through exaggeration, and through whipping up hate.
I’m not hanging my head this morning. I’m holding it up high. And I think there are people in the States who are, too. As a great singer named Joe Henry said last night, “This is where we are right now. But it’s not who we are.”
The mobilization amongst people is to talk seriously not just about Trump, but about these issues, to defend immigrants, to defend the poor, to defend people of color, to defend women. Through adversity comes possibility.
Listen from 2:57
There’s also discussion of whether Trump is modifying his approach now that he is President-elect:
Absolutely not. Don’t buy the snake oil. Trump isn’t working against the elite, Trump is the elite. Trump is the snake-oil man who used the money from his father to rise within the elite.
So you can’t depend on him to unify the people. Instead, use the Internet the way it can be used. Use it to communicate with people and don’t follow Trump’s lead. That’s how he got the Presidency — he made everyone dance to his xenophobic, hate-filled tune.
