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Needless to say, a nation capable of sending a man like Donald Trump to the White House twice is not well. It was of course possible to understand his election in 2016 as a fluke, a win delivered by the Electoral College over the opposition of most voters. But the legitimacy of his election this time around has shifted the mood around his second inauguration significantly. The protests have been sparser, the liberal pundits are quieter, the resistance, all told, seems weaker. Ten years into the Trump era and due for at least another four, we’ve been humbled into near-impotence, a victory for the only ideology Trump has ever been committed to, which is humiliation.
It must have been a real pleasure, given this, to have Biden, Harris, and much of the Democratic party’s leadership sit and listen Monday afternoon to an inauguration speech that featured many of the lies and distortions about the Biden administration that he trotted out on the campaign trail. The invasion of criminal immigrants, economic decline, the abolition of free speech, the indoctrination of children — all of it’s over and all will be well now that America’s being carried forth not only into a new administration but, per Trump, a new era in American history.
“The golden age of America begins right now,” he said. “From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer during every single day of the Trump administration.” This was followed later by a reference to the failed attempt on his life which proved, he intoned, that he had been “saved by God to make America great again.”
This is the kind of messianic rhetoric that has convinced some that Trump hopes to seize dictatorial powers in this term, perhaps to the end of securing himself a third. That remains implausible, but you can’t really blame the worried. Four years ago, his attempt to steal the 2020 election culminated in an attack on the very building where he took his oath this afternoon; political strategy aside, Democrats were substantively right to insist he was dangerously unfit for the presidency on that basis. This is what made it all the more appalling to see Biden, Harris, and other Democratic leaders participate so readily in all the standard inaugural pageantry and formalities, smiling and clapping away for the ascendancy of a man they told voters posed an existential threat to “our democracy.”
The red carpet has been rolled out for Trump substantively too. One of the first major pieces of legislation Trump will likely sign into law will be the Laken Riley Act, a bill that allows for the detention of any undocumented immigrant accused of theft and related crimes and empower sstates to sue the federal government over immigration policy. A whopping 48 Democrats joined Republicans to pass the bill in the House; 10 Senate Democrats voted to advance the bill just days ago. If pressed in their own defense, they would likely cite a flurry of polls showing the American public has swing to the right on immigration in support of Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
But those figures are themselves the product of Democratic capitulation. The New York Times tells us that the migrant wave under Biden has been the largest period of immigration in American history, one that has coincided with economic growth and falling crime. The inability of Trump’s putative opposition to call attention to those facts — to offer a case for an orderly, secure but capacious immigration policy and immigration reform is a key reason why the undocumented in cities like Chicago can reportedly expect raids against them to commence within a matter of days.
The Ice activity being discussed now is a far cry from the mass deportations that Trump has called for and promised; here and elsewhere, it’s unclear how much of Trump’s stated agenda will manifest itself as real or within stunts designed to dazzle the most gullible voters in the electorate. We can be reasonably certain, though, about who will benefit the most from whatever equilibrium Trump and his flunkies reach.
The combined net worth of the four wealthiest attendees of Trump’s inauguration was $1.06tn dollars; the VIPs included Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Sam Altman, and Sundar Pichai — titans of 21st century industry, paragons of a new Gilded Age that Trump’s politics, beneath all the humbug and bluster, have been forged to sustain. Much remains uncertain about the path the next four years will take us down. But it’s crystal clear who’s going to come out ahead and who it’s all for.
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Osita Nwanevu is a Guardian US columnist
