The Trump Movement

When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President in June 2015, the media and viewers alike brushed it off, simply believing that the self-made business tycoon did not have the experience or temperament to hold such a high office. Now, almost three years since the day he first announced his candidacy and 16 months into his Presidency, questions are still asked as to how voters made Donald Trump the President of the United States.

Well, it is simply called “The Trump Movement”.

Right off the bat of announcing his intent to lead the nation in the highest office, Donald Trump was met with laughter and doubt, from voters and politicians alike. No one at the time believed that he stood a chance against a group of long time and familiar-faced politicians. In a crowded Republican field of 17 candidates, no one thought it possible that Donald Trump would hold strong against governors and US Senators. However, on May 4, 2016, just one month before the Republican convention in Cleveland, Ohio governor John Kasich became the last candidate to drop out of the bidding for the Republican nomination, thus leaving Donald Trump the only viable candidate left in the race. While “Anti-Trumpists” pleaded for the RNC to choose a different party poster boy, on July 21, 2016, Donald J. Trump “humbly and gratefully” accepted the Republican nomination for President.

To no surprise to Trump loyalists and to much surprise from the media and those who doubted Trump, following the convention Trump’s campaign began growing and growing. The Trump Movement was in full gear and had no plans on stopping. As the media focused more and more on Donald Trump himself rather than the campaign, more revelations surfaced about Trump’s informal business practices and even more about his own past. This only became fuel that eventually pushed the movement even faster. However, in late 2016, video resurfaced of a hot mic conversation between Trump and then Hollywood Access host Billy Bush making sexual slurs about a female anchor. Donald Trump, the man who never apologized for ANYTHING, was forced to apologize and condemn his own actions. The Trump Movement was in a stall. As the months that followed the leaking of the infamous tape, more and more controversies arose. However, despite all that fame against him and his campaign, in the early hours of November 9, 2016, Donald John Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States, defeating a crowded field of hopeful Republican candidates and the first female nominee of a major party.

So where exactly did the Trump Movement come from? That’s easy, it came from you and me. It is to no surprise that Donald Trump “dislikes” the media. But even through all of the displeasing reports and commentary about him through the election and into his Presidency, Donald Trump rose to political power and fame through the works of the free media. Through expressing his uncanny displeasure for the media, Trump supporters also grew to dislike the media. Chants of “Fake News” and even threats against the journalist there to cover Trump rallies soon became the new norm. The unbearable truth and unpopular opinion is that Donald Trump rose to power because of the media, the media whom he “hates” so much.

At this point, it is impossible to predict where this movement is going. The unpredictability of Donald Trump the man is all more concerning for how far he may go to keep his supporters happy and his haters in check.