Trump as the "Chosen One:" Making Something That Isn't Funny into a Big Joke

Donald Trump, White House photo

On August 21, President Donald Trump announced during an impromptu press conference that he was “the chosen one” to win a trade war against China. Calling himself “the chosen one” makes him sound like a messiah. (Messiah literally means “anointed one,” which is pretty close to “chosen one.” Christian theology considers Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah.) Predictable outrage arose; predictably, the Christian Right has stayed mum about Trump’s presumed blasphemy. A few days later, Trump said that he was joking.

When Trump said he was just joking, he got two things done: (1) he walked back his ridiculous boast and (2) he broadened his appeal by giving his supporters an excuse to continue supporting him. The persuasive tactic is outrageous but clever. 

When Trump speaks like that, he creates a paradox: he broadens his appeal by being divisive.

Let’s look at his entire statement in context: 

“We are winning against China. They’ve lost two and a half million jobs in a very short period of time. They want to make a deal. It’s got to be a deal that’s good for the United States, where they want to make a deal — probably, we will make a deal.

"But if I didn’t do that — and I’m not doing this — somebody said it’s Trump’s trade war. This isn’t my trade war. This is a trade war that should have taken place a long time ago by a lot of other Presidents.

“Over the last five or six years, China has made $500 billion. $500 billion. Ripped it out of the United States. And not only that — if you take a look, intellectual property theft. Add that to it. And add a lot of other things to it. So somebody —

“Q (Inaudible.)

“THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. Somebody had to do it. I am the chosen one. Somebody had to do it. So I’m taking on China. I’m taking on China on trade. And you know what? We’re winning. Because we’re the piggybank. We’re the one that all these countries — including the European Union — wants to rob and takes advantage of. European Union — $200 billion. China — more than $500 billion. Sorry.” [italics added] 

He didn't make a religious claim, and may or may not have grasped that "chosen one" meant something religious.

He soon learned, however. After the predictable outrage, he tweeted that it was all a joke:

 

“I was smiling as I looked up and around.” Factually wrong. Videos show that he was not smiling. He looked and sounded deadly serious. 

Trump routinely says outrageous things and then says it was all a joke. In 2016, he said that climate change was a Chinese hoax and later said he was just joking. Saying it was all a joke was standard Trump-talk.

First, to describe himself in messianic terms was outrageous if not narcissistic. People ridiculed him. He could not let that stand. So, since he rarely admits error, Trump instead walked it back by claiming it was a joke. Second, Trump wants to appeal to his most fanatical supporters, most of whom seem happy to think of him as a chosen one. But, by (falsely) saying that it was just a joke, Trump could allay criticism and give his many Christian supporters an excuse to support him. 

Many people were eager to jump onto Trump's make-believe train. Trump’s “They knew I was kidding” tweet received, as of this morning, 116.6 thousand “likes” on Twitter and 23.7 thousand retweets.

Politicians need to appeal to multiple audiences who hold different attitudes. Most politicians handle that by being wishy-washy. Trump handles it by contradicting himself and saying it was all just a big joke. He can appeal to supporters who genuinely think he is their savior. He can appeal to supporters who don't. His devotees happily wink and play along. The tactic works. Politicians like Trump always find plenty of people eager to be deceived.

The entire dust-up was predictable. Trump made an outrageous comment; the press jumped on him, and Trump jumped on what he called the “Fake News outlets.” He took two opposite positions without breaking a sweat. He left the mainstream media sputtering in frustration.

Yes, Trump did praise himself in lavish terms. No, he wasn't joking. Was his rhetoric honest? No. Was he forthright? No. Was his tactic legitimate? No. But millions of supporters are happy to play along.

P.S.: This all falls under the larger category of rhetoric whose purpose is not to make policy, but to “make liberals heads explode.”  That is, some conservative rhetoric's purpose is to get liberals riled up. I’ll write more about that some time in the future.

P.P.S. Trump has talked quite a bit about his tariffs. Tariffs are always popular, and they are always a bad idea.