Lessons of mid-term results for Trump

Tuesday Column By VICTORIA NGOZI IKEANO

vikeano@yahoo.co.uk 08033077519

There comes a time in everyone’s life’s journey when events from out of the blues unexpectedly and suddenly hit him/her such that he/she is forced to literally stop on his/her tracks and take a retrospective look at himself/herself up to that moment; to ruminate about the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune; to reflect deeply on the meaning and purpose of life here on this planet. And in such periods of humble reflection he/she begins to gradually recognise his/her weaknesses, errors, missteps over the years and finally to resolve to become a better human being going forward, to have a different view of his/her fellow human beings, etc. Some people seize the moment and follow up through diligent work on themselves to change for the bitter. For others, once having recovered from the experience that apparently humbled them, they soon succumb to temptation, falling back to their old ways ,nourishing their weaknesses the more through increased self-aggrandisement and conceit.

United States helmsman, Donald Trump experienced the first paragraph of this write-up when he contracted the dreaded COVID-19 disease in his first tenure as president and had to be hospitalised as a result. Not a few feared for his life then. However, the irony was not lost on many. Here was the ‘most powerful” man on earth, a man who had denied existence of COVID (notwithstanding that thousands of his countrymen had been killed by it) and shunned associated protocols recommended to curb its spread by medical experts; president of the most influential country in our world who boasted that COVID was no more than common, ordinary flu that could be cured with chloroquine, thereby providing ammunition for those who pushed back on COVID with conspiracy theory on it which in turn further exposed millions of people worldwide to it. These are people that consider whatever comes out of the mouth of the ‘most powerful man’ as gospel truth. Then picture Trump taken from the grandeur of White House on an emergency travel to a hospital infected by COVID. Just before he was flown to the Bethsaida military hospital the president tried to evince some braggadocio by posing for the cameras. A writer analysed that image thus: “There Donald Trump stood in a near-barren room in the White House doing what he loves to do most – starring into a camera. But this time he looked worn, his shoulders slumped. The tissue-thin vitality of his perpetual bronze sprayed-on tan was gone. Instead, Trump glaring, almost sheet-white complexion revealed a suddenly small and sick man. He looked like a man who understood that he had been infected by a potentially lethal virus…. More than anything, Trump looked frightened”.

He lay prostrate on the treatment bed, helpless like a new born baby. That experience humbled him. COVID humbled him. He later recovered from the disease, stating that he was grateful to Almighty God for sparing his life. That singular experience would have made him to realize that COVID was real, to start empathising with those that were suffering from the pandemic, the sick in general, physically challenged persons, the injured and dead in warfronts, the poor and marginalized people, all of whom he had mocked at one time or other during that his presidency. This columnist admonished Trump at the time that one way by which he can show his gratitude was by preaching and engendering love among all Americans. I wrote then, “Mr. President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, it is not enough to mouth your gratitude to the Almighty for saving your life from the pandemic. You should show it in thoughts, words and actions by adhering to this His Commandment, “Love thy neighbor as thy self”’. The general elections came soon that same year. Engrossed as he was in the hustle and bustle of election campaigning, Trump seemingly forgot the lessons COVID was meant to teach him.

And now results of recent mid-term election present President Trump another opportunity to learn some lessons of life if only he would humble himself to so do. The results have been described as a Tsunami that swept Republicans off their feet and by extension, their leader, President Trump who was neck deep in the campaigns, even selecting, supporting particular candidates at primaries. The polls brought to fore, his rhetorics against many Democratic candidates, his unilateral decision in pulling US out of some important United nations organizations, unilateral decision in imposing sanctions on members of the United Nations International Criminal Court, his threat against any country that dares to implement UN warrant of arrest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his unilateral decision of imposing tariffs on certain countries without prior consultations and negotiation leading to increased cost of goods on US soil; his unilateral decision to go to war with Iran without first informing Congress, only going to congress when he needed money for the war; his brutal pursuit of illegal, undocumented immigrants through terror tactics.

In the last presidential election (2024) Trump recorded a landslide victory over his Democratic rival. And the Hispanic population a.k.a. Latinos contributed significantly to this win. In this his second coming Trump further tightened his immigration policy, sending ICE personnel to forcefully take out illegal immigrants from their homes, work places and the streets such that many of those affected have to be staying indoors with their family for fear of being arrested, kidnapped. This meant financial difficulties for affected families. What is more even those who are legal residents were similarly deported engendering panic among Latino communities as the most affected. So in this mid term elections, a number of Latinos, people of colour, blacks and people of African descent, won their races. These are people whose origin he had been railing against with his barely veiled racist tendencies. The lesson here for Trump is that he should have compassion for people and treat them with respect in so far as they are not criminals.

Same goes for the Muslim/Arab American populations whom Trump had been lambasting, angrily calling them terrorists. In his first tenure as President he barred people from certain Muslim countries from entering America. Of particular note is Representative Ilan Umar whom Trump want deported to her original country by all means. “Go back to your country” is a common refrain of Trump to these persons. Ditto Mr Abdul who despite gang up against him still won. He will become the first Muslim Senator when sworn in in January. President Trump should note that in every community there are good and bad citizens alike. No community should be characterized as populated by bad/evil persons in its entirety. More importantly, good always triumphs over evil, ultimately, in the end. President Trump does not spare women in his trade mark mocking. Recall his ranting against his competitors, Hilary Clinton and Kamala Harris.

More recently while arguing that he deserved this year’s Nobel Peace prize than the winner, a female former UN Human Rights court Judge, Madam Navi Pillay, Trump said disdainfully about her, “Nobody knows her”. Yet women roared in this mid-term election, against his expectations. According to figures, the US House of Representatives in which Democrats are now in majority now comprise for the first time, over 100 female Democrats. This election witnessed the first black woman elected as governor in the US; the first Hispanic woman to have a gubernatorial seat in Texas; overall four US states for the first time elected a woman as governor. Also, despite the world’s richest man, Elon Musk splashing a whooping 500 million dollars (over 500 trillion naira) on Campaigns for the Republicans, they still lost their control of both the House and the Senate by a wide margins. Lesson: Money is not the answer to everything.