Trump: George Wallace Redux
The former president's Madison Square Garden rally shows that those voting for him will be going along with the intellectual scion of the segregationist leader
Dear Readers:
Donald Trump’s rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden 10 days out from the election was his most provocative display of MAGA offensiveness yet. Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, was depicted as a “floating island of garbage.” Kamala Harris, Trump’s opponent, was variously called a sex worker and the Antichrist and much else. The sheer animus on display against immigrants and others provoked parallels to an infamous Nazi rally at the same venue in 1939.
In my latest video, I propose a different historical comparison: In many ways, Trump resembles the Southern populist and segregationist stalwart George Wallace who too held a rally at the same venue several decades later. Voters should understand that as they head to the polls today.
You can watch it below or on our YouTube channel (make sure to subscribe!), and when you do, tell us if you also see the Trump-Wallace parallels.
Landry Ayres
Senior Producer
© The UnPopulist, 2024
I shook hands with George Wallace.
I don’t see any similarities with Trump, except they both got shot.
The difference from Wallace's time is that much of the rhetoric from the identitarian "left" has gone far beyond the color-blind aspirations of the LBJ consensus and the Civil Rights movement. "1619 Project"? "Structural racism"? "Equity"?
What goes around comes around. Unfortunately, the backlash is even uglier (and more widespread) this time around -- but (given the overreach), that should be no surprise.