Donald Trump Needs to Change If He Wants to Win in 2024: As Victor Davis Hanson argues in his book, The Case for Trump, the 45th President of the United States can be studied as a tragic hero, as appalling as that idea may be for some.
He brought about many necessary changes not only to public policy, but politics, even if many disapproved of how he did it.
As Hanson notes, tragic heroes are “not intrinsically noble.” “In fact,” he continues, “they can often be obnoxious and petty, if not dangerous, especially to those around them.”
I don’t know what is if that is not an apt description of Donald J. Trump. In his case, the ends often justified the means.
Trump was needed to shed light on the corruptions and collusions happening within the beltway, as well as outside of it. Not to say people didn’t already know the government was involved in some seriously shady business. However, Americans had become apathetic about the dishonesty in D.C. as well as complacent about their own participation in the political order. Loathe or love him; Trump incited action on both sides.
He gave a voice to those who felt voiceless and inspired people to fight back against government overreach and the “swamp.” He reminded people of why America is great and how to make it that way once again.
Trump wasn’t trained like polished politicians and he clearly didn’t speak like one. He was, and is, the very antithesis of political correctness. After decades of career politicians, this was refreshing, even if at times caustic, particularly for those whom Hillary Clinton so infamously named “the deplorables” – Americans tired of feeling as if their own government was looking down on them.
The real estate mogul and reality tv star was fearless against establishment norms. No one – not the press, not politicians, not the bureaucrats – were safe from Trump’s scathing remarks. He exposed the liberal bias in media and the extent to which Democrats, as well as Republicans, would go to invalidate someone who threatened their well-oiled and highly compensated machine. Trump not only exposed nefarious actors, but he also stood up to them.
He confirmed that a leader can push back against the establishment – and win.
A Time and a Place
History demonstrates that there are certain leaders meant for certain points in time. George Washington, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, even Biblical heroes such as Moses, prove that there is almost a preordained inevitability to their rise to power. Whether divinely inspired or otherwise, it’s hard to imagine who else could have commanded America to freedom, orchestrated the defeat of Hitler, directed a revolution of equality for African Americans, or led his people out of slavery.
While none of these men are unequivocally above reproach, their life experience and at times their very flaws are what made them so effective and consequential. None of it comes without sacrifice and all of it comes to an unavoidable end either by death or defeat. Others, like Washington, simply knew when to walk away.
The right person for one set of circumstances is not always the same for another time and place. America in 2016 is very different than it is today. The current moment may not be able to withstand more of Trump. But he’s not Washington.
Can Donald Trump Pivot?
Given the massive dissatisfaction with Biden’s leadership, it wouldn’t be hard for anyone to come in and single handedly sweep the office from underneath him.
Except for maybe Donald Trump.
He is so divisive and has alienated so many, including those in his own camp, even the most laudable policies may not win him the White House in 2024. Trump’s ideas may be great, but vision is nothing if it can’t be fulfilled. Without the cooperation of those within the establishment, the most brilliant plans will be left unexecuted.
Hanson claims it’s often hard to tell whether Trump’s inexplicable eruptions are “planned by design to unnerve his critics and the media or are instead spontaneous expressions of indiscipline and crudity.” In other words, are Trump’s appearances a result of tactical strategy or simply a character defect?
Either way, commitment to them will fail him. Many people are tired of the outlandish persona, even if they fawned over Trump a few years back. No one respects a lack of self-control and the inability to resist the temptation to succumb to childish impulses. As Hanson mentions, the result is “one step forward due to cunning, one backward due to sloppy speech.”
In a tight race, Trump can’t afford to stay in place. His base is not large enough to give him a reliable 51 percent of voters. He must advance by persuading independents and disillusioned Democrats.
Without a serious look in the mirror, and change of direction, Trump will lose. Although even that may not save him.
Often, when Trump does stick to a tame, scripted speech, he comes across as uncomfortable and somewhat disingenuous. He’s not quite as compelling. You may be able to take the man out of Queens, but you can’t take the Queens out of the man.
The unorthodox speech and rough-and-tumble style that won Donald Trump favor seven years ago don’t seem to be as effective now. Crude dialect and bombastic outbursts are not tactics voters can tolerate long term and Trump’s ego doesn’t seem to be willing to give them up any time soon.
Jennifer Galardi is the politics and culture editor for 19Fortyfive. She has a Master’s in Public Policy from Pepperdine University and produces and hosts the podcast Connection with conversations that address health, culture, politics, and policy. In a previous life, she wrote for publications in the health, fitness, and nutrition space. In addition, her pieces have been published in the Epoch Times and Pepperdine Policy Review. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
