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Is Trump changed?

Aug 27,2016 - Last updated at Aug 27,2016

Republican nominee for the US presidential election Donald Trump has been called many names from both sides of the political spectrum, with some calling him “nuts”, “unfit” or of a temperament inappropriate for a head of state.

Yet, Trump continues to draw support and the question is why.

It seems that the support Trump still enjoys is basically a protest vote even though this appears to be defying logic.

I suspect that most of the support the Republican candidate enjoys is a show of resentment or rejection of the years under President Barack Obama’s rule.

The pro-Trump people see their country become a second-rate power with little or no clout left on the international arena, and that Obama has been bullied by many world leaders with impunity, especially, of course, by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

When Obama drew a red line over the use of chemical weapons in Syria in 2013 and then backtracked, many Americans saw this as undermining the credibility of their country.

When US citizens see Putin calling all the shots in Syria and Ukraine, they begin to wonder what happened to their superpower status.

When Moscow uses a base in Iran to rain bombs on the Syrian people with no real reaction from Washington other than the meek “threat” to explore the legality of the Russian move, many Americans wonder what became of their international stature. 

When Syrian warplanes bombed the northern Syrian city Hasakeh last week, where the US deploys a small contingent of advisers, and the only reaction from Washington was to scramble two warplanes to “encourage” the Syrian planes not to bomb US military in the city, this too sent a clear message to American voters about which way to turn on election day.

On the domestic front, what seems to disturb many Americans is the growing sense of lawlessness in many US cities, with some taking racial overtones. 

All that projects a disturbing profile of the US in the world, as well as domestically. 

The reaction to Trump’s call to make the US “great” again is, therefore, real and unequivocal, despite reservations about all his other policy statements on emigrants, Muslims, Mexicans, etc. 

Even on the immigration issue, Trump’s disturbing and objectionable stance is made marketable when he says he wants new emigrants to share the values of mainstream Americans before they are allowed into the country, something that resonates with millions of Americans who obviously reject multiculturalism for fear that it would erode their unique socio-political culture.

With Trump now beginning to tone down his rhetoric on controversial domestic and foreign issues, he is beginning to give the impression that he is a transformed man who has mellowed and learned a lesson or two.

Not too many voters would buy that, at least not just yet. 

The sudden change in Trump’s stance appears more tactical than real.

 

Whether Trump can succeed in convincing US voters that the change in his temperament and rhetoric is real remains in doubt until November 8 when US voters will have to make up their minds one way or another.

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