Editorial: American horror

CHENNAI: With just about one week remaining to go for the much-touted US presidential debate that is to transpire between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, the rhetoric emerging from the American political battleground seems to be careening towards a Grand Guignolesque denouement. This week, Harris said Trump had ‘disrespected sacred ground’ in his recent appearance at Arlington National Cemetery, where the Republican nominee took and distributed images despite a federal prohibition on campaign activity on the grounds.

Trump’s campaign aides had proceeded to engage in an altercation with a cemetery staffer, taking photographs and filming the former president, including at the sites of the graves of Afghanistan war veterans, after being warned about rules at the site. Harris’s barbs are coming at a time when the billionaire presidential hopeful has been dishing out one after the other unparliamentary and sexist remarks directed at the Democratic nominee, in a manner unbecoming of a former elected representative of the people. Rife with misogyny, Trump reposted an image of Harris featuring Hillary Clinton that was bookended by a malicious claim suggesting they traded sexual favours for getting ahead in their professional lives.

Political commentators who were appalled by the level to which Trump and his MAGA brigade had stooped were quick to point out that this was the second time that Trump had disseminated such content from his followers, something that even media outlets backing him have taken as a cue to launch their own sets of deplorable televised ‘assaults’. A Fox News anchor had crassly remarked how ‘Harris might get paralysed in the Situation Room while the generals have their way with her.’ For many Americans, this diatribe coming from Trump is quite telling, considering he himself is a convicted felon, and an adjudicated sex offender.

But there are no surprises as to why the incorrigible Republican is now opting to hit below the belt, in a no holds barred manner. Last week, it was reported that Harris was leading Trump 45% to 41% in a poll published by a reputed news agency. The four percentage point advantage among registered voters was wider than a 1 point lead that Harris had held over Trump during a July poll. Now, it’s gradually becoming evident that Trump might have to pay a very heavy price for his repulsive sexism, which is not going down well with women voters. Across four polls conducted in July, Harris had a nine point lead among women, and a six point lead among Hispanics.

What might also be tipping the scales in favour of the comparatively more articulate Harris is the innate bigotry that Trump swears by. Recently, Trump lamented the growing acceptance of trangender Americans in an appearance at the annual gathering of Moms for Liberty. It’s a national nonprofit that has spearheaded efforts to get mentions of the LGBTQIA+ identity and structural racism out of K-12 classrooms. The ex-president emphasised that transgender women should not be allowed to play in women’s sports, and supported restrictions on access to gender affirming healthcare.

Interestingly, Trump has come under fire even from Republicans and conservatives over an announcement that in his second term, he would free IVF — an expensive fertility procedure that many in the Pro-Life/Anti-Abortion movement would love to see curbed. Needless to say, if the disgruntled capitalist has its way with Washington, the newly-envisioned, post-Biden American dream might be headed for a premature and ‘nasty’ wake-up call.