Party conventions in the US are a way for presidential candidates to soften their rough edges and show themselves as presentable to swing voters. They tend to be treacly affairs where token minorities and photogenic family members are trotted out and little of substance is said. Donald Trump was having none of that. He turned the Republican National Convention into a cross between a carnival act and a Nazi rally. Most Republican bigwigs stayed away out of fear of being associated with the toxic Trump brand but a parade of C-List celebrities and Trump lackeys gave speech after speech saying the only problem with the US is this it has too many minorities and not enough guns. Speaker after speaker called on Hillary Clinton to be jailed whether for her handling of emails or for the Benghazi attack. Undocumented immigrants and African Americans were portrayed as murderers and rapists. Ironic then that the biggest story to come out of the convention was the fact that Trump’s wife was caught plagiarising Michelle Obama in her speech.
The pinnacle – or zenith if you prefer – of the convention was Trump’s 75-minute speech which he screamed out at the top of his lungs. His aim was to scare White America into voting for him. He claimed crime and murder was threatening to tear America apart when it is actually at an all-time low. He doubled down on his Muslim ban and scapegoated every other minority group out there. Trump is the id of the Republican Party of the last 50 years. His racism, sexism and homophobia are a dime-a-dozen in the party. But instead of sugarcoating his hateful appeals, he has presented the Republicans as the unvarnished white supremacists they really are. The one note of dissent at the convention came from runner up Ted Cruz who refused to endorse Trump and was roundly booed. It all made for great drama but the rest of the world needs to be worried. Not only is there a non-trivial chance that Trump could be the next president and have his itchy fingers on the nuclear button, Hillary Clinton is now free to let go of any leftward pull her party may have exerted on her. She can indulge her own not inconsiderable appetite for warmongering and still come off as the sane candidate. Trump may be the last roar of a lilywhite US that will soon no longer be a majority but a roar that is loud, dangerous and sociopathic in its demand to retain its privilege.