Trump’s Stunts Veil Cruel Policy With Nationalism

Trailed by 41 V8 Nascars and two Secret Service vehicles, Donald Trump sped around a sold-out Daytona International Speedway in his black presidential Cadillac Feb. 16. While 100,000 Americans filled the stands, Elon Musk was back in Washington dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Trump has yet to step away from the spotlight since his inauguration. He continues to perform stunts that overshadow changes he’s making, creating dire implications for both Americans and people all over the world.

When Trump stepped out of the Capitol Rotunda Jan. 20, he sat down in the Oval Office and began signing executive orders, The Associated Press reported. Some of these orders made radical and hurtful changes to the government, but others were performative diversions. 

Trump creates distractions like the one at Daytona for the same reason he signed so many executive orders so close together — his aim is to project arbitrary nationalist victories to overshadow the lack of improvements the administration has made for the average person.

He uses stunts to create the illusion of victory for his base of support, even though his voters will likely still be hurt, according to The New York Times, by his less publicized actions, including attacks on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Education. 

Trump’s core supporters, preoccupied with the triumphant “America First” rhetoric of the president’s renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, are less likely to notice the Department of Education supplies disproportionately more funding to red states than it does blue states, according to Forbes.

Trump’s performative nationalism secures easy victories with his supporters, while his meaningful actions inflict harm. Trump has begun to dismantle programs like the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Centers for Disease Control, which provide aid to Americans and the international community. 

Not only do stunts distract, but they overload the media with information, making it harder to know what’s going on in the news. Trump’s opponents are also forced to spend time and energy going after petty name changes — and pay less attention to the problems he’s created.

In response to Trump’s executive orders, Alaska’s senate unanimously opposed his decision to rename Mt. Denali to Mt. McKinley, according to NPR. The state’s government coming together for this reason is a complete waste of time to fix a nonexistent problem. 

The strategy of distraction has been embraced by Trump’s associates as well. Elon Musk dominated news coverage and sparked outrage when he made a hand gesture resembling the Nazi salute after Trump’s election, according to Al Jazeera. 

Musk bragged about defunding the federal government while brandishing a chainsaw at The Conservative Party Annual Conference Feb. 21, according to BBC. At the same event Steve Bannon was accused of giving another Nazi salute, The AP reported.

While these gestures are extremely dangerous, hateful and should absolutely be condemned, lawmakers and news media must not lose sight of the devastating changes happening within our government. 

We can’t allow ourselves to be blinded by empty gestures and posturing. We must fight against the cancer of fascism that’s infected our government. We see the signs of disease — now we must cut out the tumor.