Want to know what Trump will do? Listen to what he says.

One of the most enduring pieces of wisdom in American politics is the idea that a promise made on the campaign trail is almost never a promise kept.

The only thing that can be said about a politician, and especially a presidential candidate, is this You can’t count on anything.

In reality, this is not true.

In fact, there is a strong connection between what a candidate says during the election campaign and what a sitting president does.

In his 1992 campaign, Bill Clinton He emphasized jobs, unemployment, taxes and health care, summed up in his campaign refrain: “It’s the economy, stupid“.

He moved forward, in the first two years of his administration, with a bill of economic stimulusa proposed health care reform and an upper income tax increase.

George W. Bushin his 2000 campaign, he emphasized education reform and tax cuts and continued in the first months of his administration with Let no child be left behind and a large tax cut for high earners.

Barack Obamain his 2008 campaign, he emphasized health care, jobs and tax cuts for the middle class.

He moved forward with an economic stimulus bill (which included, among many other things, a tax cut for the middle class) and a broad and ambitious health care bill that ultimately became the Affordable Health Care Act.

Also Donald Trump, who is not primarily known for telling the truth, has kept his 2016 campaign promises.

He promised, for example, to build a wall on the border with Mexico and he tried to build a wall on the border with Mexico.

He promised to ban Muslim immigrants from entering the United States and sought to ban Muslim immigrants from entering the United States.

He blatant racism of Trump in office, his conflicted position towards North Korea AND Iranand his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election was also foreshadowed by his rhetoric during the campaign.

What a candidate and a campaign say matters.

It also matters how a candidate and campaign say it.

With these truths in hand, let’s take a look at rhetoric of Trump’s current campaign for the White House.

At rallies and interviews, the former president criticizes his political opponents enemies of the nation.

“The threat from outside forces,” Trump said at a rally last year in New Hampshire, “is far less sinister, dangerous and serious than the internal threat.”

He said one critic, Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, deserved to be executed for his actions during Trump’s final month in office.

For Trump, any attempt to contain his authority amounted to treason.

Other critics, Trump said, are “parasites” and “thugs.” He called for the “elimination” of parts of the Constitution and said that if he is elected again, “I would have no other choice” rather than locking up his political opponents.

He called for the “rescission” of some parts of the Constitution and said that, if elected again, “I wouldn’t have any other choice.”” rather than locking up his political opponents.

He says immigrants from Central and South America “are poisoning the blood of our country.”

When he is told, openly, that he is using the language of Adolf Hitler AND Benito Mussolini (the language of fascism), Trump accepts it.

“They say.

I didn’t know that, but that’s what they say. Because our country is being poisoned,” Trump said in a recent interview with Howard Kurtz from FoxNews.

“Look, we can be nice about it, we can talk about ‘Oh, I want to be politically correct,’ but we have people who come from jails and prisons, long-time murderers… They’re all being released into our prisons. Country. These are murderers ; These are people at the highest level of criminality. And then there are mental institutions and asylums… and then there are terrorists who reach a level never seen before.”

This is in no way a statement of policy or future plans.

There are no propositions to be gleaned from the former president’s attacks, his invectives or his endless denunciations.

You might say, if you were willing to do so, that it is just rhetoricfull of sound and fury, which meant nothing.

It would be a big mistake.

We may not be able to provide an exact explanation of the consequences of Trump’s violent and fascist rhetoric if he were granted a second term, but rest assured there would be consequences.

Given the power of the federal government and the full support of the Republican Party, invested with the legitimacy guaranteed by the Constitution, free from the shackles of legal control and consumed by the thirst for revenge:

“I am your punishment,” he tells his supporters:

There is no doubt that Trump would follow through on the wishes expressed during the election campaign.

As promised, he would free the January 6 rioters who were prosecuted and imprisoned.

As he promised, he would unleash the application of federal law against his political opponents.

As he promised, he will do something for the people who, according to him, are “poisoning the blood of our country”.

He would try to be, as he stated amidst the applause of his followers, a dictator.”only on day 1”.

Of course, if there’s one promise I hope Trump doesn’t keep if he returns to the Oval Office, it’s that.

If Trump wants to be a dictator, I highly doubt he will be one for just one day.

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