It would be wrong to see the outgoing president as an outlier. He was the product of a series of forces in US politics and culture
Donald Trump is no longer president. The Trump anomaly is over. Or is it? For it’s a measure of the bizarre, outsize impact of the man that pundits are already speaking of Trumpism.
Liberal leftish types anticipate his return like Brian de Palma movie devotees anticipate Carrie’s hand coming out of the grave – Trump’s coming to drag them into the darkness. Rightwing radicals – conservative doesn’t seem the right term any more — speak of Trumpism because he was the person who energised their disparate coalition in a way no other person has. I almost typed politician rather than person but Trump is not a pol. He is a “leader”, someone on whom people project their own desires.
