There is something uncomfortably “American” about the phenomenon of Donald Trump. I’m not the first to recognize this. It is, nevertheless, something we as a people should acknowledge, and then, hopefully, reject.
A few months ago, a young academic appeared with MSNBC’s Ali Velshi and was asked to comment on President Trump’s tepid response to the murder of 49 Muslims in New Zealand, on March 15. “Trump is a bigot!” the academic exclaimed, then added (describing Trump’s response), “it’s un-American!” as if that followed.
Trump’s attacks on a free press and an independent judiciary are, recognizably, un-American, yet his bigotry fits us all too well, unfortunately.