The Visceral President

Trump-Musk represent government by personal obsession

In his inauguration speech and again last week in his lie-filled address to Congress, Trump declared that the federal government will only recognize two sexes, male and female. He bragged about signing an executive order banning trans women from participating in women’s sports.

Trump’s obsession with DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion — is so extensive that even 30 high school musicians were denied an opportunity to perform with the U.S. Marine Corps band because they were selected through a Chicago-based program that encourages and mentors young minorities in music.

Across the country, corporations and colleges are withdrawing from DEI in the face of threats from the Trump administration.

Musk, the crackpot billionaire empowered to cut federal funding and the government workforce, claimed in a FOX interview on Monday that Social Security and other federal entitlements need to be cut to stop illegal border crossings. He called entitlements “a mechanism by which the Democrats attract and retain illegal immigrants by essentially paying them to come here and then turning them into voters.”

That’s “great replacement” junk, the conspiracy theory that Democrats are trying to gain more power by changing the nation’s racial demographics. It emanates from the paranoia of white supremacists and, clearly, informs Trump in his pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

The Trump fixation on trans, on diversity and on the number of undocumented immigrants living and working in the country — these issues have been made priorities because of the president’s personal obsessions. Each of them are rooted in Trump’s bigotry and racism.

Of course, his focus on these issues helped Trump get elected; clearly, many of the voters in the MAGA base share his dark views about trans, DEI and immigrants. And the claim that someone somewhere is getting special treatment because of their gender or race feeds the fire of white grievance that Trump has exploited for years.

But don’t attribute to Trump some savvy and cynical strategy in his preoccupation with these issues. He’s no political genius; rather, he’s a pile of impulses and prejudices with a red necktie. He’s the Visceral President, acting on instinct rather than intellect, and he’s turned personal obsession into public policy.

Even his fixation on tariffs appears to emanate more from personally-held beliefs than from wise counsel on the economy. In fact, Trump’s views on international trade and the global economy go back decades, when the dynamics of commerce were very different. The world changed, he didn’t.

Obviously, Trump’s views on trans athletes are shared by some Americans. Some Americans think DEI represents discrimination rather than an effort to stop discrimination. Some Americans believe undocumented immigrants broke U.S. law and should be deported.

But these are not the priorities of most Americans.

Most Americans want to afford food, home and healthcare. They want their communities to have a sufficient number of doctors, nurses, teachers and first responders. They want to see their children and grandchildren well educated or trained in a trade. They want to afford to retire. They want America to be respected around the world. They want clean water and clean air. Most Americans understand by now that, without progressive action, climate change will make life on Earth unlivable for their descendants. Most Americans understand that immigrants, documented or not, do a lot of the heavy lift in the nation’s economy; they put food on our tables, they mulch our shrubs, they provide care and comfort for our elders.

Pardon me if this all sounds like wishful thinking about our country. I refuse to believe that most Americans share Trump’s priorities.

If you ask them, most Americans will say they have a “live and let live” attitude about those around them. If you ask them, they will say they empathize with, at least tolerate, those who are different. Only active bigots and racists see their savior in Trump, and even they are going to withdraw from the cult if, with his foolish obsessions, he destroys the good economy he inherited.