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Aaron Blake
Senior political reporter, writing for The Fix
The Washington Post and the New York Times both wrote Monday night about President Trump's overt attempts to divide the American electorate by stoking racial fears. That same night, Trump used to say that both narrative and threatens to divide our country even more.
Trump decided to call himself a "nationalist."
"A globalist is a person who wants the globe to do well, frankly, not caring about our country so much. And you know what? We can not have that, "Trump said at a rally in Texas. "You know, they've got a word – it's sort of become old-fashioned – it's called a 'nationalist.' And I say, really, we're not supposed to use that word. You know what I am? I'm a nationalist, okay? I'm a nationalist. Nationalist. Nothing wrong. Use that word. Use that word. "
And so we shall. This is not the first time Trump has acknowledged his own apparent apparent nationalism – in February 2017 he agreed that the label described him "in a true sense." But the context in which he said it and his embrace of it after conspicuously eschewing it for so many months suggest it's an American policy for a reason.
The practical implications of that should not be understated.
As The Post's Robert Costa noted Monday night, Trump did not hesitate to associate with Stephen K Bannon.
Bannon was understandably pleased that Trump used the word on Monday night.
The term is clearly a trump, like Trump himself somewhat gleefully. A racially overt version of it – white nationalism – has been publicly ascending since Trump launched its 2016 campaign by attacking undocumented Mexican immigrants as "rapists" and "criminals" and later proposing a ban on Muslim immigration. Trump at one point denounced white nationalism, but he also suggested that some of the nationalists who rallied in Charlottesville last year, where a counterprotester was killed, were "very fine people."
In Europe, nationalism is on the rise, seizing upon growing suspicion and distaste for refugees and immigrants. The groups' leaders regularly confirmed that their movements are really about thinly veiled racism.
Even as similar anti-immigrant and anti-refugee sentiments have taken hold in the United States, the movement to this point has not been identified. The term "nationalist" has been so circulating in American politics that it has not been tested.
But in 1993, the Times Mirror Center poll showed "nationalism and ethnic hatred" topped the list of the world's biggest dangers. The 27 percent who cited it was slightly higher than the 24 percent who cited nuclear weapons.
What people feel is the greatest danger to world stability. (Screenshot)
The poll question linked nationalism to "ethnic hatred," and the latter phrase undoubtedly increased the number of Americans who cited it as the world's biggest danger. But that's also kind of the point. Over the years, nationalism has inextricably been tied to race and ethnicity – the very idea of a defined, national identity in which certain people do not qualify. Trump will probably argue that his version of nationalism is more about doing what's best for "America first," or just simply about patriotism.
Goal As George Orwell wrote in 1945, there is an important distinction:
By 'nationalism' I mean first of all the assumption of millions of people who can be confidently labeled 'good' or 'bad'. But secondly – and this is much more important – I mean the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing other than that of advancing its interests. Nationalism is not confused with patriotism. Both words are normally used in a particular way, but they are not limited to one another. By 'patriotism' I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes in the world. Patriotism is of its defensive nature, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of each nationalist is to secure the status of the individual.
Mostly, Trump's invocation of nationalism is yet another invitation for Americans to divide themselves over its true meaning and its use of it. Trump, as he often does, is goading his opponents to read the worst in his words, while knowing that his own supporters will rally around the term and believe the opponents are simply anti-Trump or even anti-American. Trump is also giving to those with racial or nationalistic gripes to believe they have a common cause with the president. It's the most constant thread of Trump's basic strategy: Trump keeps employees coded that it carries with it plausible deniability, but he also paints a clear picture of dividing and singling out those heirs as "the other."
In some ways, Trump's use of the word was long overdue. It very much fits with his political strategy and his entire political ethos. His decision to inject it into a midterm election is not coincidental. And assuming he keeps using it and it leads to an American renaissance of the word – which tends to be the case with Trump – it will only be further divide an already riven country.
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