Donald Trump is a foreign influence

I recently spent time flying to different regions of this country and was struck by how nice almost everyone was. Whether I went to New York, Chicago or Albuquerque, I found the fellow passengers to be super polite, patient with slow movers and helpful with lifting bags into the luggage compartment. The number of racial and ethnic backgrounds sharing the planes would be difficult to quantify.

This is America, for now. But we are struck by how un-American Donald Trump is. Underneath all the flag-waving, his contempt for soldiers wounded or killed in action, the democratic process, and people of other colors violates the American ideal. His us-versus-them scapegoat is straight out of the fascist playbook.

Sociologists refer to the “other” as those who are not treated as part of our culture/race/religion. The people I encountered on my journey treated each other with basic courtesy. Trump is honestly not one of us.

I do not yield to anyone in the desire to enforce our immigration laws. Polls show that most Americans know we need foreign-born workers, but they want them to enter the country legally. I am with them.

The number of illegal border crossings is now lower than when Trump left office. And Kamala Harris says she would immediately sign the tough, bipartisan immigration bill that Trump had Republicans kill.

After a “comedian” at the recent Trump rally called Puerto Rico “a floating island of trash in the middle of the ocean,” Trump offered no conflicting views, let alone condemnation. The Trump camp had reportedly heard the routine in advance and had no problem with the slur against Latinos. One adds that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.

They are all legal here.

Noting the strong work ethic and family values of Hispanic culture, Ronald Reagan famously said, “Latinos are Republicans. They just don’t know it yet.”

Trump’s running mate JD Vance also wouldn’t back down from the comedian’s bigoted riff. “I didn’t see the joke,” Vance said, right in our faces. He continued, “I think we should stop getting offended by every little thing.”

I wondered: If the opposition had mocked Vance’s wife for being the daughter of immigrants from India, would he have responded, so lacking in self-respect? Vance and his wife Usha wore traditional Indian attire during a wedding ceremony led by a Hindu priest. He even had the dot on his forehead that symbolized a third eye.

You can imagine what MAGA would do if Kamala Harris, who is part Indian-American, wore a sari, no matter how beautiful, to her wedding. She would be portrayed as the ‘other’ throughout the advertisements.

Trump has no problem with rich foreigners holding dollars for him. His most prominent billionaire backers are immigrants Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. They came to America to make a pile and they did. They clearly see Trump not only as for sale, but as increasingly easy to manipulate as his mental capabilities continue to decline. (At a recent rally, Trump said the country is “close to World War II.”)

In fact, these billionaire migrants have no appreciation for the rule of law and the orderly electoral process that have made America their land of opportunity. Or they don’t really care, knowing they can move to their next country and take their billions with them. (This is Musk’s third nationality.)

Should Trump win the election, America risks sliding into the kind of fascist society seen elsewhere, a mess run on primitive threats and violence. You hope that enough Republicans want their party back and maintain their vision of America to make him lose.

All this said, many members of Trump’s brainwashed cult are undoubtedly good people. They just don’t know it yet.

Froma Harrop is a syndicated columnist. She can be reached at [email protected].