Could Trump Win Become a Julius Caesar Moment for US?

The Greek philosopher Plato theorized that populist democracies evolve into tyrannies. Those political pundits who had been preaching the election of Donald Trump would end in such a way are using his frequent reckless threats against political opponents as evidence.

Trunmp’s metaphorical prediction that he could shoot someone in New York City and not lose a single vote has come true.

But, from past experience, Trump has said many things that are just loose talk. The Mexican border wall is a good example. In 2016 he promised to build such a wall and have Mexico pay for it.

The wall was started but far from being finished and Mexico didn’t pay one dollar for it.

On the other hand the fact that this time Trump won both the popular and electoral vote, which he didn’t do in 2016, despite being a convicted criminal, narcissist, alleged rapist, racist, tax dodger and draft dodger, could be seen as a Julius Caesar moment in US history.

A moment when the American republic was handed over by popular acclaim to a potential dictator, deemed by experts as someone not fit for public office. Only time will tell if this Caesarian moment becomes a permanent fixture as Trump continues to enlarge his grip on power.

I didn’t take long for the Democrat soul searching about where they went wrong in the 2024 election. Was VP Kamala Harris too liberal and too late entering the campaign? Did, as Senator Bernie Sanders said, the party had abandoned the working class voter?

Populism is something still alien to the Democratic Party. All of these and more were factors in the Dems defeat.

But, if you had to lay the blame on why the US is saddled with Trump, the buck stops with Joe Biden.

As vice president during the popular Obama administration, Biden would have been the almost automatic party candidate in the 2016 election. But, for personal reasons he chose not to stand, leading to Trump’s defeat of Hillary Clinton.

If he had run then, he probably would have beaten Trump and would have been re-elected in 2020. Yet, the fact he didn’t stand in 2016 threw the political process off balance, ending in his cognitive decline in 2024, with him dropping out mid re-election leading to Trump’s win now. So, in the end Biden must be saddled for the blame of Trump in the White House.

Of course, it goes much deeper than Biden not running when he was supposed to run. It’s about how the political parties view the country.

The Democrats tend to view the US as one nation with laws that apply to everyone. The Republicans consider the US as 50 separate states with diverse views on issues such as abortion.

I contend what turned Dem voters off was Harris being seen, as was Hillary Clinton, as a lefty feminist, unloved by many Americans. It’s an oddity of US politics that male liberals such as Bill Clinton and Obama have no trouble being elected.

However, in recent decades, there’s been a role reversal in who the two main parties choose as candidates. The Republicans have embraced a form of liberal populism in choosing showbiz celebrities as candidates while Democrats remain locked in conservative orthodoxy with existing politicians as candidates.

GOP political leaders include Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Murphy, Shirley Temple, Clint Eastwood and Donald Trump.

Realistically, the popular image of Trump was moulded on the US network TV show ‘The Apprentice,’ not on the streets of New York City. If the Dems want better odds on winning future election, it would pay for them head hunting Hollywood and Broadway for well known showbiz faces.