Two journalists from Geneva, Philippe Mottaz (very old friend), and Stéphane Bussard (Le Temps) are writing a running commentary on the Trump presidency in the form of a letter exchange. They have invited me to join. I write in English; they translate into French. My contributions are here; the exchange is on Substack. Link here.
Dear Stéphane and Philippe,
I am in New York City, back from a family wedding with all the trappings of an American nuptials. «Rehearsal dinner» on the eve, church ceremony the following noon (Corinthians 11:9 “Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man”), apéro très riche, wedding dinner under a large tent at the farm, «contra-dance» to very traditional country tunes, Sunday morning brunch on the day after – yours truly assisting in the slicing of cold cuts, cheeses and vegetables for four days in advance. It was a very intriguing experience, rich in insights into the manifold ramifications of Trumpism. The families of the new couple sure are Trumpists, but they are also very «green» in a certain way: they live off their own land, put a very high premium on chemical-free farming, butcher their own cows (it’s horribly unhygienic, I’ve seen it), home-school their kids, are all anti-vaxers and don’t believe in global warming nor in the fluidity of gender. The women wear home-sewn skirts, and a lot of guys have suspenders on their pants.
***
Between the banter and the joking, conversations at times turned political, and yes, Philippe, I can attest that you are right in your suspicion that the low polling of Trump does not automatically translate into refusal and refutation of Trumpism. «Nobody likes Trump», is the one recurring phrase I heard during that wedding week as well as many times before. «Nobody likes Trump», said the young man at our dinner table, who works for the campaign of a State Senate candidate in California. Everyone mocked the «dividend» of five thousand dollars Trump promised to every American if the Republicans would keep both houses of Congress in the fall election. One guy said he thought it was a bad AI joke, before he realized that it was for real. No one took it seriously. The discussion then turned to the what-comes-next question. He liked JD Vance, said another man, but the Vice-President’s utterances were hard to swallow for him. «Would you ever vote for a Democrat», asked the older farmer («the only way to eat healthy is to grow your own food»), who was the man’s father-in-law. Yes, said the son-in-law, “if they present a viable candidate». He does not like the left and thinks the Democratic Socialists’ success «will hurt the Democrats in the fall». Asked who then might be viable, the man mentioned the governor of Pennsylvania. This did not go down well with the father-in-law: “That guy lies about the measles, he says there are deaths from measles in Pennsylvania when they are not”. The father-in-law is «MAHA» – «Make America Healthy Again”. He is all for healthy eating and even more so against vaccinations. «I was a Democrat», he told me. «Covid changed it all.” The vaccine mandates and the limitations on free movement for the unvaccinated made him believe that «they» were lying on behalf of big pharma. «It was all a lie, the liberals, the Democrats, the media lied. I woke up». Now he would never even consider a Democratic candidate «I don’t like Trump», he said. «But if it’s a Democrat against Trump, I will go for Trump every time».
***
Such statements bring us to your other reason for caution, Philippe. Disbelief in and disdain for «liberals» goes way deeper than the cult of Trump. In downtown Detroit, I went to the Sunday Mass in St. Joseph Shrine, one of four Latin masses allowed by the archbishop. The Latin mass is clearly geared to the conservative brand of Catholicism, as I readily noticed in the reception hall where I was invited to after the two-hour-ritual. The American pope is scarcely more popular there than his Argentinian predecessor. Both are not «conservative», meaning old-fashioned, enough. A conversation with three ladies over coffee went from the pope to the evils of the city (homeless, homeless defecating and having sex in the street) to the gender craze (boys in girl’s sports), the Muslims (lots and lots about the evils of Islam) before we arrived at Donald Trump. One of the women started to blame «the liberals» for everything that went wrong on the watch of the caudillo, «who brought God back». At this point, her vis-à-vis pushed back. «Trump? I’m through with him. He supports the use of glyphosates in agriculture». L., the lady vis-à-vis is a health worker, very health-conscious and diligent in exercising. For a moment, our coffee discussion turned into quite a spirited paso-doble until both church ladies found common ground in their rejection of the Democrats and another helping of Muslim-bashing. «Look at their candidates». Abdul el-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for Senate, did not have any friends at our table (he is a Muslim), neither did the failed Presidential candidate Kamala Harris. «All she did was cackle», said L., «she cackled even when talking about deaths. We just called her the cackling lady».
***
My friend Paul, a Democrat, a diligent reader of the news and an astute observer of American politics, is completely convinced that the Democrats will take the House and have «a decent shot» at the Senate. He is also sure that J.D. Vance will not be able to take the mantle of the Caudillo, «because the MAGA crowd does not like him». I could not tell. The mass – Latin or not – is not read. What do they say? «The opera ain’t over til the fat lady sings