Theoretically, everything is against US President Donald Trump. The coronavirus crisis, for which he is criticized over its handling; the protests and riots over racism, which some commentators attribute to "social breakdown" at the end of his time in power; and finally, the polls, which at this stage give his opponent, Joe Biden, a considerable advantage.
Remember this: On June 3, 2016, roughly the same amount of time before the last presidential election, a Reuters poll gave Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton 45% of the vote to Trump's 35%. Given these numbers, and other polls, analysts were in agreement: Clinton would win. The result, as we all know, was different. Like then, plenty of Americans could still vote for Trump even though they don't support everything he says or does. Many even say that the president embarrasses them. For them, looking in the mirror of their vote is not a happy experience, so they don't rush to share it with pollsters. But they also know that polls don't change reality – elections do.
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Despite the opening numbers, it's too early to eulogize Trump. Many could vote for him again, for the reason that they are witnessing reality becoming radicalized: the culture of political correctness is collapsing. Many are sick of pretty words, of people saying the "correct thing" instead of pointing out the simple truth. The Trump phenomenon is mainly a protest against the post-liberal approach, whose main motto is aesthetics rather than honesty, pretense over authenticity. A dictatorship of thought in the disguise of liberalism.
True, the culture of political correctness grew out of an aspiration to fix societal ills like racism or gender-based discrimination. It sought to create standards for discourse that were clean of prejudice and offense toward groups considered weak or excluded. But in many people's eyes, the regime of political correctness led to hypocritical, and mostly artificial discourse.
Under skilled politicians, a legitimate protest turns into a display of vandalism, property damage, and wholesale destruction of historical monuments. As the smoke rises from a shop of a hard-up merchant in Arizona after it was set on fire by "protesters" demanding "social justice" and "equality," all of a sudden former President Barack Obama's polished words to the graduating class of 2020 appear: "You can create a new normal, one that is fairer and gives everybody opportunity and treats everyone equally and builds bridges between people instead of dividing them."
Many in America are sick of rules about correct speech and pretty words and prefer a leader who says what he thinks instead of overly scripted, "correct" words.
And that is what Trump gives them: he is not always precise when it comes to details (to say the least), he is clumsy, emotional, crude, and offensive. But, and this is the main thing, the product is authentic. What you see is what you get. At a time when simple honesty is so rare, average Americans know how to value that. This is why they voted for him, and this is why they are likely to vote for him again. In the bitter choice between embarrassing and crude, but real, or self-righteous, tiresome political correctness, many will vote for the "anti." It happened in 2016, and it might happen again in 2020.
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