WASHINGTON — A well-meaning misunderstanding underlies the horrified hand-wringing over President Trump's refusal to reach for national unity in the face of terrorist threats against his opponents.
It's assumed that those who hold the presidential office automatically push aside partisanship during moments of crisis.
But this wishful thinking overlooks the central fact about Donald Trump's approach to politics: His grip on power depends entirely on splitting the nation in two. Angry division — rooted in race, gender, immigration-status, religion and ideology — allowed Trump to become president. Absent a politics of us-versus-them, Trumpism makes no sense at all.