First, a disclaimer. Here at Politically Inclined I try to be as unbiased and impartial when I report on something as I can. I strive to provide background and nuance to complicated situations and explain why things happened the way they did due to circumstances – whether that be cultural, political, financial, historical – you get the idea.
Even with the 2024 UK election, while I didn’t “both sides” things when the Twitter account for this website was running I tried to fact check all political parties where possible – although, let’s face it that keeping up with the Conservative Party was nigh on impossible (fact checking their Threads account became almost a full-time career in the last couple of weeks) so I don’t say this likely when the almost 50/50 US voting split (depending on what poll you believe) disturbs me greatly.
I am saying this without hyperbole: The 2024 Presidential election is the most consequential in generations and it will have a much wider reaching influence than just the United States.
During my “Twitter Days” I would regularly get called out for commenting on US politics (specifically Donald Trump) and was being asked why I should be allowed to comment, or even have an opinion as I am English person living in the UK.
Well, in light of recent events – things that have been said, done and (more importantly) promised – here’s why every single person in the world can weigh in on the US Presidential election and the state of US politics as a whole.
So with that in mind, this article is not my usual nuanced and unbiased take – but it is the truth.
When America Catches A Cold, The Rest Of The World Sneezes
Some date this saying back to the 1929 Wall Street Crash [1]Irish Central: When America Sneezes but despite its varying history it still holds true today: Where America goes, many places follow.
Take a look at what happened globally after Donald Trump was elected in 2016.
Jair Bolsonaro was elected in Brazil in 2019. He had far-right tendencies, rolled back environmental protections in the Amazon, promoted anti-COVID measures and cut back protections for indigenous groups.
Boris Johnson was also elected in 2019 in the UK. He was right-leaning in his policies, went further than most expected on his Brexit-Exit “deal”, ignored a lot of COVID laws and lied to the Queen (which is nice).
Italy was the first country since the Second World War to elect an openly right-wing official to power when Giorgia Meloni was made Prime Minister in 2023 (and it worked so well with Mussolini so what could possibly go wrong?)
Austria and Switzerland have both begun a dramatic swing to the right with the Austrian FPÖ (Freedom Party) and the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) both gaining ground in local and national elections.
France has continually lurched dramatically to the right over the course of several elections, only to be dragged back to centre thanks to careful political manoeuvring by people on the left and centre.
There’s been a significant political shift to the right in Canada with the Conservative Party under Pierre Poilievre gaining ground over centrist Justin Trudeau – although it remains to be seen how much this swing will actually count at an election.
And then you have the continued presence of Viktor Orbán in Hungary (who Donald Trump loves) who has maintained and increased his grip on power since 2010 thanks to an extreme regulation of the press, gerrymandering and politicising the judiciary – remind you of any one?
Even the almost-socialist Aotearoa New Zealand where right-leaning The National Party, ACT Party and New Zealand First Party formed what some call an “anti-woke” coalition[2]The New Zealand Herald: Coalition agreement: National, Act, NZ First and the deal that delivers new Government.
Why Is This Shift Happening?
After 2016, we were subjected to almost wall-to-wall coverage of Trump and his random thoughts aired as “political opinions”.
In 2017 Trump said that there were “very fine people on both sides”[3]Politifact: In Context: Donald Trump’s ‘very fine people on both sides’ remarks (transcript) in response to a far-right rally in Charlottesville which resulted in the death of an innocent woman.
In 2018, Trump called Haiti and African nations “Shithole Countries”[4]NPR: Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as ‘shithole’ countries following up by questioning why the US couldn’t get more immigrants from Norway.
Then we get to 2020 when the George Floyd and the Breonna Taylor marches started Trump was calling the protesters “dangerous thugs”, “radical left bad people” and “rioters, looters, and anarchists” amongst other incendiary phrases[5]Vice: Rioters, Looters, and Thugs: Watch How Trump Has Described the George Floyd Protesters.
And don’t think that being out of office for almost 4 years has tamed the anti-white rhetoric, let’s not forget this gem from his one-and-only debate against Vice-President and 2024 Democratic Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris:
This, of course (and I shouldn’t need to say it) is completely untrue (and completely unhinged) but here we are.
And because of this type of mad rhetoric a certain portion of America seems to think they can ignore societal norms and say whatever they want, truth be damned just because a former TV show host who’s an adjudicated sex offender, 34-time convicted felon and has filed for bankruptcy 6 times got away with it because people decided to vote “anti-establishment”.
As a reminder: Trump only won in 2016 because of the United State’s antiquated and bizarre electoral college system – Clinton beat Trump by 2.9 million votes[6]CNN: It’s official: Clinton swamps Trump in popular vote and in 2020 Biden beat him by over 7 million popular votes [7]CNN: Biden’s popular vote margin over Trump tops 7 million .
The problem is, as shown by the quote in my first section, when America sneezes, the world catches a cold.
See the terrible riots in the UK as proof of how widespread increased anti-immigrant sentiment across the whole of Europe has become and how a general nation-first mindset is now becoming the norm.
This is all down to Trump, his attitude and the reach of his cult of personality across the globe.
The Russia Equation
More an more information is coming to light about Trump’s relationship with Russia.
We know that Trump has no love for Ukraine after they failed to help him dig dirt up on Hunter Biden – even though it was a “perfect” phone call and aid was going to be withdrawn[8]Law & Crime: ‘This Is What We Call a Clue’: New Docs Show WH Halted Ukraine Aid Less Than Two Hours After Trump’s ‘Perfect’ Call but Trump already stated that he’ll cut military and financial aid to Ukraine if re-elected [9]Politico: Trump threatens to cut US aid to Ukraine quickly if reelected .
And why would that be?
Nothing to do with multiple calls to Vladimir Putin even though he’s not President I’m sure[10]PBS: Trump had as many as 7 private calls with Putin since leaving office, Bob Woodward writes in new book.
And where Trump goes, other leaders follow such as Boris Johnson partying with an ex-KGB member (after ditching his government supplied security no less) while he was foreign secretary and then appointing that mans Russian-born son to the House of Lords.
And let’s not forget that Trump continues to praise Putin.
And Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines.
And Kim Jong Un of North Korea – rocket man himself.
And Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey because he’s totally democratically elected.
And Xi Jinping of China (even though China virus and tariffs so IDK what’s happening there).
Oh, and it’s totally fine to invite Viktor Orbán to Mar-a-Lago when you’re not President – even though Orbán’s not quite democratially elected:
This Is WHY The World Cares
If Trump gets back in it legitimises people like Nigel Farage in the UK, a man who lit the embers of the 2024 race riots in the UK.
It tells people like Putin and Orbán that they can carry on being dictators and they’ll have the backing of the country that calls itself the “world’s largest democracy”.
It tells world leaders that it’s okay to be anti-trans, anti-woman and anti-democracy.
It tells countries it’s okay to be pro-business and anti-worker.
It tells countries that it’s okay to ignore the will of the people and become an authoritarian state.
If Trump wins it shows that no lessons were learned after the January 6th Insurrection attempt.
If Trump wins it shows that no lessons were learned after the horrors of the rise of Fascism in the lead up to the Second World War.
If Trump wins NATO could fall, giving Putin free reign and allowing the likes of Hungary and Republic of Türkiye to align themselves with Russia which they desperately want to do but don’t due to fear of sanctions.
If Trump wins, economic chaos will follow thanks to punitive tariffs being levied between nations.
If Trump wins the world loses.
Katy is the editor-in-chief of FlippingHeck.com a blog about Self-Improvement, Productivity and Small Business Tips. When she’s not working, she enjoys gaming, making music and Reviewing Things.
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