I enjoyed reading Jonah’s piece today, but I’d like to offer a bit of a dissent. Jonah argues that what some Trump acolytes call “nationalism” is really little more than white identity politics:
Daily, I receive e-mails and comments from people who describe themselves as nationalists – but who are, in fact, making arguments for white culture as if whites were now an oppressed minority in need of an American government that zealously defends their interests. Right or wrong, many of them believe that Trump will protect white culture from the forces of multiculturalism, and Christianity from spreading secularism.
Which brings me back to why I think “nationalism” is a poor word to describe what we’re witnessing in this election.
If nationalism is supposed to do anything, it’s supposed to unify the country. When I look at these so-called nationalists, though, I don’t see a unifying force. I see the latest entrants into a decades-old game of subdividing the country into tribes seeking to yoke government to their narrow agendas.
My limited disagreement lies not with the notion that white identity politics is an element of Trumpism (it absolutely is) but with attaching any kind of unifying ideological theme to the Trump disaster. Trumpism, at its core, is a hash of complete nonsense. He cobbled together a GOP plurality from voters who hate the establishment, hate political correctness, want their piece of the identity politics pie, like the wall, think Trump’s “tough,” and/or simply know and like Trump from decades in the public eye. The white nationalists and outright racists he’s attracted are like dirty croutons tossed on an expired gas station salad. They mainly provide the bitter aftertaste.
It’s true enough that Trump has taught us that many millions of Republicans aren’t nearly as conservative as once thought. But it’s not like he’s offering offering a competing philosophy. He’s offering a competing man. Trump doesn’t have any ideology other than what’s good for Trump. It’s the Breitbarts of the world who are striving mightily to create some sort of ideological “movement” out of all this mess. What started as score-settling is now a general election campaign, and general election campaigns usually need ideas.
It will be fascinating indeed to watch their efforts after their election. If Trump loses a winnable election by a margin comparable to John McCain’s — when McCain faced an unpopular war and an economic meltdown – it will be hard to sustain the idea that he represents any sort of revolutionary movement. Bernie Sanders will likely have a more enduring ideological legacy. It’s far more likely that Trump’s core voters will remain angry — and remain angry for all their different reasons. Woe to the next politician who tries to make electoral sense of the mess and rebuild Trump’s coalition. They’ll disappear into oblivion even faster than the Donald. Politics is often nonsensical, but he represents outright nonsense.
The 'New Nationalism' Is Mainly Overblown Nonsense