What I’ve realized about the world’s authoritarian regimes is that they base their platforms on hope. They find the most vulnerable, malleable minds and appeal to them. And when they get into office, they exploit them in the name of the greater good. Now, it may be hard to imagine Hitler or Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte as geniuses, but they are — in an unconventional sense. They manipulated thousands of people into bending to their will by the power of their words.
In 1988, Oprah Winfrey did an interview with now President-elect Donald Trump and asked him if he’d ever run for president. His response: “I think I’d win. I’ll tell you what: I wouldn’t go in to lose.”
A CNN report details 24 theories explaining why Trump won the election. The list includes factors such as low voter turnout, Democrats not pushing Bernie Sanders and social media influence. Personally, I think that over the years, Trump’s business experience honed his linguistic skills, allowing him to persuade any target group. To liberals, his apparent screw ups were calculated steps toward the desired voter base that would get him elected.
Trump knew what group of people would get him to the White House. He had an advantage because even Democrats didn’t want to vote for Hillary Clinton. He didn’t need the support of his own party. On the outside, it appeared he wasn’t taking the election seriously, which was frustrating for Democrats. It made Clinton push harder and become more aggressive, revealing her worst side.
The white, working class and white, uneducated populations were the two demographics that got Trump elected. It’s truly astonishing that there are so many uneducated voters in this country — enough to get a president elected. Of course those aren’t the only groups that voted for Trump, but they made up the majority of his voter base. Those are the most easily manipulated minds in this country, and while there is much to be said about how that represents America, there is also much to be said about how Clinton overlooked these people and Trump didn’t.
Clinton was hard-working, dedicated and qualified to be president. Trump was charismatic and charming, with money to seal the deal. In the end, Americans preferred to be charmed by greatness and dreams of a white America and rather than be educated on the realities of domestic and foreign relations. Even Trump —who used to be a Clinton-loving, abortion-permitting, marijuana legalization advocate — knows these kinds of progressive policies aren’t what white Americans want to hear when they see their beloved police officers being threatened on the street. Trump was a genius in his tactical strategy, attacking at a time when tensions between white and black Americans were at their peak.
On election night, I — like many others — was devastated and shocked. But we shouldn’t have been. Trump’s genius exploitation the American people shows that he’s a lot smarter than we give him credit for. In that, there is some hope that he may use his evil powers for good.
Anjana Nair is an 18-year-old international studies sophomore from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.