On MSNBC, political commentators discussed former President Trump’s recent speeches affirming his supporters.
Princeton professor Eddie Glaude said Trump is affirming his voters’ callousness through ritual acts like campaign speeches and rallies, manipulating their sense of displacement and socializing them into meanness, which threatens American democracy.
Political commentator Charlie Sykes noted Trump had claimed Joe Biden was senile, but after Biden’s vigorous debate performance they have little left to say.
“Trump and his allies in the media have spent months now basically saying that Joe Biden was in complete cognitive decline. He was senile and would be drooling from the podium. When Joe Biden puts a rather forceful vigorous performance, what are they left to say?” Sykes asked.
Sykes urged the media to highlight the abnormality and danger of Trump’s speeches rather than treat them as normal or routine, which will be key in the 2024 election.
“I hope you keep highlighting and the rest of the media keeps highlighting what’s going on in these speeches. Let’s not pretend that there’s anything normal about it. That there’s anything safe about it. That there’s anything routine about it because I think that’s going to be the key to 2024,” Sykes said.
Glaude agreed it’s important to understand the ritual and liturgical nature of these political gatherings and how Trump manipulates displacement to affirm supporters’ mean-spiritedness through the rituals.
Anchor Nicolle Wallace said, “Eddie, you got a quick last word?”
Glaude said, “Well, I think it’s important to understand what he’s saying. I think Charlie’s absolutely right. We also need to understand the nature of the rituals of these gatherings, of these speech, these campaigns, they’re ritual acts. They have liturgies. People are being socialized into callousness. Their mean-spiritedness is being affirmed. Their sense of displacement is being manipulated in all sorts of ways. So we need to understand the ritual practice that is underpinning what Donald Trump is doing, and it is a threat to American democracy.”
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