OPINION | NEWS
As I set out to write this analysis on Trump’s Triumphant victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, it felt like a daunting task. One that was never ending, as Trump was a highly challenging subject to figure out. Like many, I believed this non-egalitarian, populist, and unconventional figure, who revealed himself during his first presidency, would never make it back into the White House. But, as it turns out, we were all wrong.
Story and Analysis by: Bruce T. Osborne, Sr. | November 8, 2024
The first flaw in determining how Trump managed to regain the “Oval Office” is the tendency to underestimate his intellectual abilities and the scale of his vast achievements. When the media, Trump’s political critics, and the citizens of the United States downplay his educational background or dismiss his successes altogether—in both business and politics, we fall-short in grasping the full scope of his strategic approach.
We created a narrow view of the man, which prevents us a deeper understanding of how this crafty politician, businessman, entertainer, and real estate mogul operates. This includes the subtle as well as the aggressive tactics he employs, and the underlying goals he pursues—whether on his own or by way of “Project-25: The conservative agenda.
As an Example, in America, virtually every middle-class and upper-echelon family has relatives who are struggling, living on the margins of society. It is these connections to poverty and disenfranchisement that go unnoticed by the broader, wealthy class, yet they still remain undeniably present. When Trump turned his focus to the needs of the marginalized groups of Black, Brown, White, Asian, and others, pretending to advocate for their welfare like when he visited “Harlem, Atlanta’s fast-food facility, cooking and serving food at a McDonald’s restaurant, etc. He was “seen” as a decent and caring individual.
Trump illustrated to the disenfranchised people through theatrical deception that he hears them, and he cares about their concerns. Wherein most political candidates place(d) their focus on the middleclass overlooking the needs of the fragile demographics in America. As a result of Trump’s somewhat tenuous altruistic or kind and thoughtful gesture, it is not uncommon for the affluent and highly powerful to view his leadership favorably, seeing Trump as a winner and the person who will protect their interest and that of their disadvantaged offspring and associates…. Thereby, translating into votes for Trump for his efforts to uplift those who have fallen in society, while maintaining the status quo.
This message actually supports Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” even if the slogan doesn’t fully align with the Trump’s administration’s broader goals. A goal tied to prosperity and power of the money worshippers—America’s elites. Although, Trump’s policies do not explicitly address the issues of the disenfranchised, he does at least articulate through his rhetoric how the American dream is anchored to the stability of the upper-class, and how their surplus of cash will find its way to the middleclass and the disenfranchised. Which is a load of poppycock.
Finally, the purpose of the article and the accompanying analysis are not to lambaste or hurl in-kind vile insults toward President-Elect Trump, but to delve deeper into how he constructed his win, so the decent, forthright, and diverse people of America can plan to defeat Trumpian style dissident(s) and their political type of “MAGA” cronies’ next time. As more than likely, the Trump’ theatrical brand, for sure, is coming to a stark end——as the[President-Elect Donald Trump] will be 82 years old at the end of his second term in office.
In spite of the mentioned fact(s), we as civilized people of dignity and honor, must follow the principles and leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. who said, “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long and bends toward justice.” Additionally, as the First Lady of the United States Michele Obama simply stated, “When they go low, we go high”——and in the end, we, the collection of diverse people of America will win.
The 2024 Presidential Analysis
Former President Donald J. Trump’s political campaign that returned him to the White House was simple, but “deviously” orchestrated. While the media and others attempted to decipher the key to “The Holy Grail” of Donald Trump’s political strategic code, this approach effectively served as a proxy catapulting Trump back to the Oval Office.
Democrats and the liberal media fell short on decrypting his actual strategy and other takeaways. Leaving democratic strategist, the political party’s leadership, and many of their loyal supporters completely “Dumbfounded” on how a convicted criminal with 91 criminal convictions of which 34 being felonies won his bid for reelection.
The President Elect Donald Trump is an autocratic leader, who led an insurrection on the Capital on January 6, 2021, in order to overturn the 2020 presidential election of Joseph R. Biden, the winner. [To this day, Trump vehemently denies that he lost the election, stating, “it was stolen from under him”. A story proven to be untrue.]
Trump, in his campaign to regain the presidency, leveled a host of vile, racist, and misogynistic attacks on his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris, filled with outright mendacious tales, misleading policy issues aligning them with Harris’s association with President Joe Biden. These outlandish fabrications, and racial attacks on the current Vice President, the first women of Black and South Asian heritage to claim the presidential nomination of a major political party, is not only vulgar but reveals that Trump is not qualified to again take the seat as president of the United States of America to represent [all] the people.
The former President Trump is the oldest presidential candidate to be elected in U.S. history (78 years of age). He suffers obviously from cognitive decline, and at the same time bent on seeking retribution—crushing his political opponents totally, why? Because Trump’s campaign is forged in religious Christian imagery of conservative white Evangelicals.
Trump sees his calling to the Oval Office as a declaration by God. He believes his revenge philosophy is rooted in Biblical scripture—which Trump has adopted completely. Consequently, those adversaries seeking to wage war against him, should keep in mind the catch phrase by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “When you strike at the King, you had better kill him.” This is especially true with an ideologue like the President-Elect Donald J. Trump known for being unyielding and vengeful.
It is the highly prominent passage in the Bible that speaks about “destroying your enemies completely”, which seems to have captivated Trump’s attention. The verses are found in (Psalm 18:37-38). It states, “I pursued my enemies and overtook them; Neither did I turn back till they were destroyed. I crushed them, so they could not rise, and have fallen under my feet.”
Notwithstanding, Trump must be mindful of the contextual circumstances surrounding the verses which precedes and/or follows the text in question, for Psalms 18:37-38 does not request individuals to actually seek vengeance for themselves, but for the LORD to avenge one Himself. In (Psalm 18: 47-48) it says, “It is God who avenges me, and subdues the people under me; He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man.” Why would a God of peace and love desire His people to do evil upon another human being?
Having said that and all things considered, the question remains, how did he “the former President Trump” find his way back to the White House amid so much turmoil, the promise of personal retribution, and many other negative strikes against him? Albeit it is a win for the history books. However, Trump’s win is more than stunning but unbelievable and unlike anything the American public have seen in over 235 years of American politics.
Trump’s presidency will be based on the “theocratic system of governance”—similar to that of the functionality of monarchies or a dictatorship—serving the respective god aligned with his personal religion and that of the American citizens to follow, secondly. When Trump made the statement to Christians that they should vote in his favor, saying, “In four years, you will not have to vote again.” What he meant is that all future president’s will gain their power and the office of the president through inheritance—by way of his legacy. He told his loyal Christians, go now and vote for me. “I love Christians, I am a Christian.”
Trump said in so many words, he will fix it, so you never have to vote again. Hence, there will be no longer the need to tread through the muck and mire of political warring and silly, ill-advised, nonsensical debates. It is a grandiose vision by Trump as well as an unrealistic sense of superiority or invulnerability by a civil servant and a dangerous approach to governance that most American citizens hope never to come to fruition. Especially by an incoherent, mean-spirited leader as Trump along with his power grabbing presidential cabinet and “MAGA” supporters.
Mainstream media, in their overthinking, attempted to visualize Trump’s victory through a series of litmus test. The left tried in the end, hopelessly, to determine voters’ opinions and policy demands through the numerical process of number crunching and metric reporting, statistical data points, as well as by sophisticated computerized platforms. They focus(ed) on deciphering demographic data and views on Trump’s dismal and offensive messaging aimed at various minority groups, and “conversations” with Democratic voters and others through focus groups and exit interviews.
While democrats collected and analyzed key metrics to evaluate the organizations effectiveness, Trump kept his adversaries completely in the dark—never disclosing how his inconsistent, vile remarks, [at times bordering on mental illness], and his political strategy, propelled him again to the highest position in the land—president.
Trump, in his shrewd and spirited thinking, knew fully well that his campaign had to keep Democrats at bay — completely oblivious of his strategic plan to win the White House — preventing democrats from creating a defensive counter attack. So, he concealed his intentions by leading the Democratic strategist “down a rabbit hole” with his ludicrous “smoke and mirror” techniques.
Trump led Democrats so far down the wrong path, that it became too late, even if they had cracked the “Holy Grail” of his political strategy, to turn the political process around in their favor. Trump won by creating an air of unpredictability, lies, name calling, racist rants, and most important—creating spellbinding dramatic theater. Notwithstanding, other pathways of keeping his antagonist and enemies off balance walking them through murky political waters by placing his hands on the scales of both political entities.
Additionally, many in the media as well as democratic consultants overestimated Trump’s campaign’s tricks like “ending tax on tips”, (which was poppycock, as low-wage workers don’t make enough to pay taxes). Yet, the Harris campaign copied Trump’s lead, revealing “in appearance” that they had no understanding of the federal tax structure or, having a plan in place to help workers save more of their hard-earned income which was unfortunate.
Moreover, Trump’s dismal and unrealistic plan of mass deporting millions of illegal immigrants to their respective countries of origin. It is an initiative that will cost the American citizens an estimated $88 billion dollars, or more. To add to Trump’s list of deceptions, is his creating a “Boogieman” strategy liken to Republican candidate George H. W. Bush’s campaign against Massachusetts Democratic opponent Governor Michael Dukakis (1988) who was responsible for the states furlough initiative. The Dukakis’s “faux pas” in connection to the “Willie Horton project” cost him the election.
The Bush campaign was masterful in painting Dukakis as being soft on crime and totally responsible for letting a criminal; “Willie Horton”—a convicted murderer— out of jail enabling him to commit a host of violent crimes; including the rape and assault on a woman. The release of Horton was widely publicized and scared the living crap out of many Americans, in particular white women.
Bush suggested that the release of Willie Horton was not a mishap: a one time occurrence, but a direct result of Dukakis’s failed policies that was the causation of the Horton conundrum. Furthermore, the Bush team said Governor Dukakis policies would lead to more criminals released, elevated crimes, and murders of innocent American citizens. The campaign shed a negative light over African Americans while appealing to white voters fears, casting Blacks as the enemies, adversarial, and contrary to American values, and threats to public safety everywhere.
Sounds familiar? Hint: the newly arrival of illegal immigrants most trying to escape an oppressive government. This is not to say Trump is wrong by sending dangerous and unlawful immigrants back to their place of origin to return the legal way and forego the appropriate screening process. It is Trump’s’ rhetoric of lumping all immigrants into one basket—painting them with a broad brush as rapist, murderers, and thieves which is delusional and erroneous.
Images of thousands of immigrants crossing the border—at times violently—were at the heart of Trump’s deception and was seen everywhere in hopes of elevating his prospects for reelection. I concur, the illegal and violent factions need to go. (However, just to note, many of the immigrants seen overrunning the border are hard working law-abiding people, and not necessarily corrupt as Trump espoused, but looking for opportunities in America.)
The few odious and wicked immigrants who have committed heinous crimes and murders of innocent American citizens, such as the brutal murder of 22-year-old college student “Laken Riley” who was killed by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. It is these criminal immigrants, in particular, where Trump needs to focus his mass deportation efforts first.
It is precisely this tragic case of Ms. Riley, which was highlighted by Donald Trump during his campaign for president, that stirred up fear among the American people, by raising concerns about the potential of more crimes and murders by immigrants. Trump used this incident to not only shed light on violent immigrants, but to boost his election chances of winning, as well as to further his ongoing political cinematic motion picture comprised of Washington’s elites as antagonists and the American public as the central audience.
Today’s media is a regimented system combined with strong and similar talking points, robust vocabularies, completely and obviously biased in their opinions and agendas, as well as most having enormous distains for all things Trump. The Trump campaign gambled on the fact that democratic strategists, the media, and their avid supporters involved in judging and lambasting Trump on his road back to the White House, would take the bait and focus their insults and attacks on him wholeheartedly.
Ultimately, the critics would provide the former President Trump unfathomable increased [free] name recognition which, in part, helped to propel him back to Washington. At the same time, Trump’s team continued to lead democrats and others to waste valuable time and money trying to discover and unravel the Trump “constructed” proverbial flaws in his strategy — flaws intentionally constructed based on falsehoods and misdirection.
HOW TRUMP NOT ONLY WON, BUT WON HIS REELECTION BIG.
Trump’s political strategy was based on “Hollywood, dramatic theater, illusions, and white evangelical Christian philosophy.” It is designed to mislead his adversaries while gaining the trust of his supporters and attracting scores of frightened voters to his campaign. Especially white women, through his racist rants about the border security and crime gangs from predominately Spanish speaking countries — all while he focused on pushing the Cuban population for their loyalty and votes.
In other words, Trump—the ultimate provocateur—master plan was in part to divide America’s diverse citizens and direct them to vote for him, using his well-known “grand spectacle scheme” of dividing people—placing one group above the other in a rotating fashion. He also used the racist concepts from the “Willie Horton” conundrum, but now framing his dilemma with the border security and mass immigration as a dangerous issue effecting the American citizens but this time on steroids.
Trump, with his special flare of self-promotion and self-aggrandizement directed his own version of a Cecil B. DeMille theatrical and movie productions. DeMille was an American filmmaker who established the new standard in filmmaking—successfully showing how good drama could captivate audiences. Trump, a bombastic want-to-be iconic entertainer, producer, movie director, and political figure, will use any means necessary to accomplish his mission. Consequently, he found solace in all things “Hollywood.”
Donald Trump, the creator of “The Apprentice”—an American popular Television Program, understood that the American people are attracted to and enjoys a good drama. Especially, a dramatic series which presents its’ audience—in this case—voters, with a script made for “Hollywood,” endowed with exciting cliffhangers, engaging plots, overarching storylines with twists and constant developments that sustains viewers interest overtime with its “nail biting” ongoing drama. The 2024 political campaign wasn’t so much about the facts, policy or people’s interest, as it was about theater, and who had the best script.
It is the sole reason why “Soap Operas” endures for such a long time on the screens in the American household. It is why we now have the birth of streaming programs by Hollywood and tech companies like Apple TV, Netflix, HULU, Disney, Tubi, Max, and others. The American people are indoctrinated and mesmerized into watching impactful “prime-time or episodic drama”—being fully inundated in other people’s lives as though by magic.
Trump, the producer and director of his own current political drama series: Make America Great Again”, knew if he could hold the voters’ attention without being discovered by the election on November 5, 2024—he would win and win big—which he did. Trump won by a landslide. He Defeated Vice President Kamala Harris sweeping all seven swing states, racking up 312 electoral votes to Harris’s 226, as well as winning the popular vote.
They (the voters) can’t get enough of Trump, the scourge of Washington, D.C., and his loyal political operatives who will say and do whatever is necessary to get him elected for a second term. As evident, just look at how his loyal Trumpian supporters attempted to overthrow the election on January 6, under orders by Trump himself.
Trump told the American people, “When I win back my presidency, I will get retribution for all those who attacked me.” He said things like, “I will fire Jack Smith, the aggressive “Special Prosecutor”, an ardent enemy bent on taking the former President Trump down for crimes he committed, the first minute I get reelected. Further, he told the American people, “I will stop the illegal Haitian immigrants who are eating peoples pets and the town’s geese. They are making life unbearable for the citizens of a small Ohio city.”
“Obviously, these are ridiculous and baseless claims and total sensationalism. However, the storyline makes good for a fictional movie script for an interesting episode of the 1955 – Thriller series of “Alfred Hitchcock” or, the Sci-fi Thriller: “The Twight Light Zone” or, a sketch on the comedy show, “Saturday Night Live.” Pretending his story about Haitians is real, Trump tell the people, “When I get in office, I will stop it from happening,” placing himself in the role as America’s hero.
America was on the edge of their seats, waiting for the moment of truth and retribution promised by the “Don” and the political TV host. For Trump, the election was “immersive theater”—designed to stimulate all five senses—sight and sound, touch, and taste as well as smell. Trump was—and still is engaged in “a one man show.”
Everything that has surrounded Trump’s path to the White House was riddled with dramatic theater, lies, scandal, sex, and murders: all the things that makes for a great movie and an Oscar nomination. He made enemies out of the media and of members of the Democratic machine calling them fools, incompetent, also framing himself as an “arch-enemy” of America’s “Woke” establishment and other overzealous groups in their pursuit of him, but lacking the intelligence—or as Trump puts it, “the low IQ’s lacking substance.”
Trump told his followers and the American people only he could fix America’s broken border and the American system as a whole. He also articulated that the current President Joe Biden was mentally incompetent, and Vice President Kamala Harris was an empty seashell and ridiculously positioned to take on the title of president of the United States of America. These statements made by Trump, was to add more drama, lies, and comedic satire to his political theatrical performance and strategy to help him win a second term as president.
Trump created characters, plots and presented himself as a crafty villain—knowing “fully well” that everyone loves a smart, calculating, wealthy, and devious “snake in the grass”—liken to that of J.R. Ewing on the classic TV movie drama “Dallas” played by Larry Hagman.
This time, it’s Donald J. Trump, Washington, D.C.’s outsider and real-life dramatization. He’s shrewd, ruthless, brave, conniving, and a self-serving narcissist who happens to be a wealthy real estate mogul worth an untold amount of cash. He created a whole new branding mechanism for campaigning in the political arena—especially at the presidential level.
To stop the Trump drama, it will take that of a rival political family to match the Trump’s dynasty liken to the “Cliff Barnes family on Dallas” that served as the opposing business force to the Ewing’s. They (the Barnes) represented America’s poor and disenfranchised vs society’s wealthy and its elite (the Ewing’s). Sad but true. This is apparently where our government has now descended as a direct result of the political outsider—Donald J. Trump—America’s democracy spoiler.