Donald Trump is the leader of a mass movement that continues to grow in this country. Now, we all have to come to the reality, this is a movement. This is not a candidate who’s basically the standard-bearer for the Republican Party; he is leading a movement.
Donna Brazile (on ABC “This Week”)
Donna Brazile’s observation that MAGA is a movement might explain why Davos sounded different this year. It could also be bad press from Boeing and US Steel, or customers dumping woke Bud Light and Disney. Whatever – because the Journal’s Kimberly Strassel sees an “unsettled electorate” and a “them-vs-us” election in November, meaning CEOs and investors probably sense the woke gig is up.
Smart, because voters in Europe and the Americas are turning away from self-awareness (how they feel about climate change) to self-survival (how they heat their homes), requiring global elites to catch up to small-business owners, middle-class taxpayers, and blue-collar workers. Atop the Davos learning list is this: globalism created the forgotten households and communities that support Trump.
No question, nativism is on the rise in Europe, populism is on the rise in the Americas, business/financial leaders should know why, and newly elected Argentine president Javier Milei gave it to them straight: “the Western world is in danger.” Great start to some good advice offered at Davos.
Don’t Tug On Superman’s Cape
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind. You don’t pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger. And you don’t mess around with…MAGA… which is why JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon urged leaders to “stop insulting the other side, including ‘MAGA.’ A lot of people have voted for President Trump. He grew the economy, was right about NATO, China, regulations [that] do not cause positive output.”
MAGA is the USA’s predominant political movement. A Monmouth poll found 66% of Republicans support MAGA positions. A Harris X poll found 43% of Independents support MAGA policies. Time magazine reports Trump now leads with Hispanic and young voters. Name a bigger movement – Green, Pro-Choice – and you’re wrong by a country mile, especially in a presidential election year.
Stop Enabling The Political Class
Credit Javier Milei for calling it the way he sees it. Argentina’s new president told the gathering that THEY were the “social benefactors, heroes, creators of the most extraordinary period of prosperity we’ve ever seen” and they should NOT give in to “the political class that only wants to stay in power and retain its privilege” or be “intimidated by the parasites who live off the state.”
He rejected “collectivism” that is the “root cause – never the solution – of the problems that afflict the citizens of the world.” He explained that “well-meaning individuals willing to help others” have given way to “others motivated by the wish to belong to a privileged caste.” He prescribed a “model of freedom” based on experience: “Believe me, no one’s in a better place than us Argentines to testify to these two points.”
Heed The “Forgotten People”
Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, expressed shock at receiving an invitation to speak at Davos, and then doled out some tough love to the rich and powerful: “It’s laughable that you describe Davos as ‘protecting liberal democracy’ (and) equally laughable to use the word ‘dictatorship’ at Davos and aim that at President Trump – that’s absurd. You’re part of the problem.”
“There’s a lot of these forgotten people; small business owners, people who scraped and saved. They all believe the same thing, which is that the American Dream is slipping away from them. The kind of person who will come into the next conservative administration is going to be governed by one principle, and that is destroying the grasp that political elites and unelected technocrats have over the average person.”
An “Us” Versus “Them” Election Comes Next
In 2022, Republican Newt Gingrich (us) said a conservative populist movement was afoot, and was laughed off when the “Red Wave” didn’t happen. Now, Democrat Donna Brazile (them) says that “mass movement continues to grow.” Two views of MAGA, confirming an election wave that’s growing at the inverse of President Biden’s approval.
It was a mistake to dismiss the MAGA movement in an off-year election, when the “politically engaged” (e.g. college-educated women fired up about abortion) predominate. MAGA is being fought in presidential-election years – with 41 million added voters – when the silent majority (MAGA in 2016, Never-Trump in 2020) pushes back in anger.
Dimon isn’t a MAGA man, but he at least sees the folly of “insulting” a movement that might control Washington and America’s ways and means. Let’s hope his message is echoed in every boardroom in America.
