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President Trump is credited by both his opponents and his fans with the ability not only to attract attention at will, but also to trigger the reaction he wants, whether it is the anger or ardor, distraction or joy. Even the closest observers sometimes wonder exactly what they have heard and seen and how they should react.
And so it was with his monologue on nationalism in Houston on Monday.
At a rally for former senator Ted Cruz's reelection campaign in the Senate, Trump lamented that "radical democrats" want to entrust power to "globalists" and then stand out from the rest of the world. groups – marked by "do not worry about anything". about our country so much "- by baptizing himself as a nationalist, revealing in his comments that he was aware that this term is historically charged, that democratic leaders largely avoid:
"You know, they have a word. It's somehow become old-fashioned. This is what is called a nationalist. And I say, "Really? We are not supposed to use that word. "Do you know what I am?" I am a nationalist, "I am a nationalist, a nationalist, use this word, use this word."
Some members of the Houston crowd, as shown in the video below, did the same: they had to respond with an "American" song.
In the media coverage on Monday and Tuesday evening, political commentators wondered whether Trump understood the term perfectly in his dark historical contexts (racism and even Nazism) or whether, on the contrary, he simply wanted to call himself a patriot under another label . . Was he mainly lagging behind his critics and the notion of politically correct? Was he just looking to amuse an audience likely to revel in a transgressive speech?
On social media, the conclusions were drawn more easily:
"Patriotism is when the love of your people comes first, nationalism, when the hatred of others yours comes first." – Charles de Gaulle
– ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) October 23, 2018
What Trump did tonight is finally complete the rhetorical journey. He acknowledged what he's been all the time: a nationalist, one of many in the world. He presents the politics in transactional and deeply nationalistic terms, focused on the perceived threats to his conception of the nation.
– Robert Costa (@costareports) October 23, 2018
The self-proclaimed nationalist, Donald Trump, speaks so harshly when he discusses his militant plans against asylum seeker children, but fails for the autocrats in Russia, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia. This is not my kind of "nationalist".
– Michael McFaul (@McFaul) October 23, 2018
Perhaps predictably, a key Trump ally would have been delighted with the President's choice of words:
I interviewed Bannon tonight and he was very happy that Trump used the word "nationalist". He read it aloud from his phone. https://t.co/H6Xt5i8oqU
– Josh Robin (@joshrobin) October 23, 2018
Capitol Report: New White House report echoes Trump campaign rallies against socialism
Tuesday late Tuesday, Trump, speaking at a screening session in the Oval Office, said the term "nationalist" should be recalled, but said he was unaware of the reasons why he has been heard so seldom in an open public discourse.
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