Trump style defied commons norms and must now end

I was in Washington DC during the 2016 party presidential primaries and caucuses. Most television channels were abuzz with discussion on who was likely to win the GOP nominations.

Donald Trump was quite a challenge to discussants. His domineering, dismissive and unrestrained style of reaching out to voter constituencies was unnerving. His spats with the US media were becoming routine. He dismissed any news items against his person as “fake news”, a trend news editors found disturbing.

Many dismissed him as a joker who wouldn’t get far. I wasn’t convinced. Not when he appeared to bag a series of victories.

And that’s what makes Donald Trump a rather interesting person to study, an enigma even.

To many, he looked odd, an outlier who perhaps shouldn’t even have made the presidential poll. Yet, many others loved and continued to vote for him.

And he went on to take the presidential nomination for the Republican Party and, ultimately, the US Presidency, beating Hillary Clinton of the Democratic Party, to the surprise of many.

Trump defied routine and precedent in his governance style. I was amazed about his courage in prosecuting serious government business on social media. Any issue was game with him on Twitter.

Social media was his space for setting agenda, and even responding.

By the time we got to the 2020 elections, he was perhaps the most talked about president, and everyone was keen to see how he would fare.

One would have imagined that with the frustration and anger that his presidency had evoked, denying Trump a second term would be easy. Not so.

As voting went on in the US, it was obvious that he retained a loyal constituency seemingly happy to retain him. Observers outside the US, and even in Africa where some of Trump’s policies were of concern, fell into two distinct camps.

CEO AT 77

Some wished him quickly gone. But some loved him. And give it to him, Trump went on to improve on his 2016 vote tally by millions of votes.

Trump’s style needs study. Because it should be of concern to scholars and leaders across the world.

That a person can be so divisive and completely upset common norms yet remain quite popular, should be of concern. Or else this chequered style will be replicated elsewhere, or even repeated in the US itself. It should, therefore, be well understood and debunked.

Congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden who becomes the chief executive of the most powerful nation at 77 years.

He challenges and shames men and women of skill and knowledge in Kenya who have been packing for their villages and retirement homes to await their final days at 65 and 70.

Congrats, too, to Vice President -elect Kamala Harris.

Her election to this high office motivates the girl child and women worldwide. The lesson that all goals and all dreams can be realised, regardless of gender, should sink.