Plenty of commentators are speculating about whether Trumpism will survive the fall of the man on golf cart. The question cannot be answered in a meaningful way without a definition of Trumpism. There are three elements of Trumpism: personality; orthodox GOP substantive ideology; and heterodox ideology. In this post, I will address the first of these.
It is often said–largely, but not completely, correctly–that Trumpism is nothing more or less than Donald Trump himself. Here are the most striking aspects of his personality:
- Narcissism;
- A complete lack of interest in policy details;
- Faith in gut instincts, not expertise, which is viewed with suspicion as being associated with the “deep state;”
- Intolerance of opposition;
- Demands for complete loyalty, while giving none;
- A short attention span;
- The use of capriciousness as a negotiating tactic;
- A belief that truth is whatever serves his interests rather than an objective concept;
- A rejection of the very concept of public service, which causes him to put his own interests above his country’s;
- The belief that in all human transactions, there is a winner and a loser, the identity of whom is dictated by power, wealth, shrewdness, and status;
- Intellectual inflexibility (i.e., the only way he knows how to practice politics is to throw red meat to his base); and
- An odd combination of whining and belligerence, based on the apparent belief that an evil, powerful establishment has denied him the status to which he is clearly entitled.
Most of these characteristics obviously won’t be shared by his successors, regardless of how disagreeable they may be. The exception is the last; it is difficult to imagine any GOP nominee in the foreseeable future who doesn’t campaign as an outsider grievance politician with a huge chip on his shoulder. That part of Trumpism, alas, is undoubtedly here to stay.