Trump presents himself with dystopian fantasies

President Joe Biden He recently went to New York to appear on “Late Night With Seth Myers.”

On the program he was the same guy who saw us who talked to him: not a chicken, obviously, but lucid, informed and moderately funny.

The contrast couldn’t be greater Donald Trumpwhose ramblings have become increasingly incoherent;

After confusing Nikki Haley and Nancy Capellia few weeks ago, now it seems there is confusion again Biden with Barack Obama.

But do not worry:

Trump recently assured the public that “there is no cognitive problem. If there was, I would know.”

OH!

Republicans

Republicans will recognize neither Biden’s clarity nor Trump’s increasingly evident lack of clarity.

But the reaction to the “Late Night” appearance that I found most revealing wasn’t about presidential age; It was about what happened next.

Biden and Myers went for ice cream after the show, and Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama posted on social media hoping Biden would enjoy his ice cream “while the rest of the city got fear of crime and immigrants”.

Journalists and readers were quick to point out that, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, Alabama had a homicide rate more than three times that of New York State in 2021, and as Justin points out Bloomberg’s Fox, New York City is among the safest large cities in the United States.

Tuberville is known to get angry about these issues, but his comment illustrates two broader aspects of our politics.

Double standard

First, there is a surprising double standard in how politicians are allowed to talk about different regions of the United States.

Voters in rural states often complain that they don’t get enough respect, but you can imagine the reaction if, for example, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, described Alabama, which had a extraordinarily high gun death rate, like a place where everyone runs shooting each other and themselves?

Secondly, and more importantly, I am always surprised by the extent to which current right-wing politics is driven by a bleak image and dystopian of America, especially American cities, which is simply not based in reality.

Perceptions

Much of this seems to reflect perceptions that were frozen long ago and have not been updated to reflect the ways in which urban America has changed for the better.

New York was a really dangerous place a few decades ago:

In 1990 there were 2,262 murders.

However, last year, when the pandemic-era crime wave quickly subsided, there were only 391 (still too many), and early indications are that violent crime continues to decline.

Nationwide, violent crime, at least according to the FBI, is nearing a plateau lowest in the last 50 years.

These are official statistics, but what about personal experience?

I remember the New York of the old days and it’s nothing like that anymore.

The investigations into crime are noteworthy, especially if divided by party affiliation:

According to Gallup, 78% of Republicans say crime is an extremely or very serious problem for the nation, but only 16% say it is a serious problem where they live.

This isn’t because Republicans live in safer places:

only 15% of Democrats believe local crime is a serious problem.

Crime isn’t the only issue Republicans seem to be living in the past.

In another recent speech, Trump said:

“We are like a third world nation. Look at our airports. …”

I mean, how bad are the airports?”

Maybe I was thinking about it The guard in the 70s.

I recently landed in Newark’s new Terminal A, and it was a startling reminder of how gentrified America’s major airports have become.

Lately, Trump has also been talking about “immigration crimes” that are “skyrocketing,” targeting New York (naturally).

But as I have already pointed out, the New York murders (where the 36% of the population was born abroad) are declining rapidly.

And while there have, of course, been violent crimes committed by immigrants, including those here illegally, an NBC News analysis found that “despite several gruesome high-profile incidents, there is no evidence of an immigrant-fueled crime wave in the United States”. . UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”.

Confine

None of this says we should have an open border.

This year, in fact, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate agreed on a bill that would significantly strengthen border security;

Then the Republicans backed down at Trump’s behest, clearly because Trump wants to maintain the fear factor.

Now, I’m not saying everything is fine.

Americans have been severely shaken by rising crime in 2020-21 and rising inflation in 2021-22, both likely, for the most part, consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now both increases appear to be decreasing rapidly, but the the discomfort persists and there are still many social and economic problems to address.

In 2024, however, Trump and his party appear to be running not against America’s growing problems, but against problems that have actually become much less severe.

Can a political party really win a national election based on dystopian fantasies?

Unfortunately, current polls suggest so.

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