Bill Maher, the comedian of reference for the American progressives (the people who there call themselves liberals), has surprised his fans by explaining a recent meeting with Donald Trump at the White House, including dinner. Maher and Trump have a long history of cross insults, even some lawsuits, but that has not prevented Maher, in his show, from explaining that the president had been "friendly and measured" in the meeting, which took place on March 31. At dinner they exchanged points of view, jokes and even some coincidences (such as, for example, that Europe must take charge of its own defense). "And if this bothers the ranchers of Trump, I'm mad", the comedian is going to say, who will even attack those who "in the process of dialogue prefer to write the editorial material for a thousand times." Públic amb la seva agressivitat habitual, les seves sortides de to i la seva malaptesa. I conclude that this Trump desaforat, the Trump that is shown by the microphones and the cameras, is a mena de mask that does not shine in the reality. say in public that everyone else World leaders are "flashing their asses" from the outside of the tariffs, and I'm going to think just the opposite: that the president is a filter-free figure, who speaks in public the same way he would in private. And that, to most people, he appears to be shameful and irresponsible, but to his followers, he's a virtue.
According to Maher, Trump acts like any politician, that is, with a double face. But while most people let loose in private and try to be "kind and measured" in public, he does the opposite: he forces himself to appear rude and intolerant in order to present his voters with the image of the bluffing, trigger-happy sheriff they want to run the United States. This is basically Trumpism: a sham that consists of turning the terms of the double game of politics on its head. Normal people, those who try to identify with their voters, don't come; they come from untimely, self-important, arrogant leaders, incapable of admitting a mistake.
All comparisons are odious, but it was also said of Hitler and Mussolini that in private they were normal people—with evil ideas, of course—but very capable of displaying humane and cordial attitudes toward their pets and loved ones. That "extremely nice" Hitler who charmed Leni Riefenstahl. They were figures aware that it was precisely their public image as enlightened and irascible leaders that inflamed the masses eager to rally behind strong leadership. This is the psychological foundation of fascism: the loss of trust in the collective, and the placing of hope in the providential guide who doesn't merge with the people, but rather distances himself in a willful way, with a haughty, sacralized gesture, beyond the discussions and doubts that are essential in a democracy, but which in a democracy are essential.
As an admirer of Bill Maher, I'm baffled. I understand why he agreed to a dinner at the White House—who would refuse?—but the publicity he's given to the meeting, and the kind of epiphany he's had with the figure he's most criticized and ridiculed, make me wonder if this "cordial and receptive" Trump wasn't also a mask designed to bring Maher down. Either that, or liberals have decided it's time to accept that Trump—Trumpism—is not an accident in American history.
