Trump’s dangerous politics

With an overwhelming victory on Super Tuesday, Donald Trump has officially etched his name in the history of American politics. Winning seven out of the 11 Super Tuesday states, Trump has dug the Republican establishment into an even deeper hole. As Republican hopefuls Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich failed to capture a significant number of Tuesday’s states, the GOP must now decide which trailing candidate they want to get behind while also devising a new strategy for derailing Trump’s campaign. More important, aside from the problems arising in the Republican Party, Trump’s continuing success presents an even greater threat to the future unity and well-being of our nation as a whole.

{mosads}Trump’s victory speech and press conference on Tuesday showed him as a viable, strong and rather “presidential” candidate. But this press conference also showed that the food fight that has become the GOP presidential race is far from over.

Before delving into the serious implications that Trump’s victory poses for our country, I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit where credit is due. Eight months ago, when Trump announced his bid for presidency, his campaign instantly faced an overwhelming wave of doubt. Since then, Trump has successfully built a large and extremely loyal following while also forcing a number of establishment candidates out of the race. That being said, the very way in which he has found success has established Trump as a significant danger to America’s future.

Beginning with his discriminatory messaging toward Mexicans, and now the David Duke debacle, Trump’s campaign has been established on overwhelmingly racist and narrow-minded rhetoric. Targeting an uneducated, impoverished and increasingly frustrated demographic, Trump’s bigoted messaging has activated a group of people who have felt abandoned by the political system. Whether it be his calls to ban all Muslims from entering America, his urgency to deport all illegal aliens or his proposal for a relentless attack on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Trump has successfully played into the fears of these disenfranchised people.

What makes Trump’s campaign so dangerous in the scope of America’s future is that he has now given a voice to millions of backward-thinking Americans. Rather than continuing to work toward a more accepting and progressive America, Trump has provided reinforcement to the discriminatory ideology that still exists in the country. With racial and religious tension at an all-time high in America’s recent history, Trump’s campaign is directly working against what so many influential civic-leaders have given their lives to establish: unity.

So far in the race, it has been seemingly impossible to slow Trump’s momentum. The real estate mogul has become Teflon to the myriad of attacks coming his way from other candidates, transforming them into an increase in the polls. Gaining the majority of Republican delegates on Super Tuesday, it is becoming increasingly evident that Trump will be the Republican nominee. While the likely Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, stands a good chance at defeating Trump in the general election, the further Trump’s campaign lasts, the further America will be pushed backward in time. As his outdated, racist and misogynistic messaging continues to make headlines, America will become increasingly divided as millions of discriminatory people are given a voice on the big stage.

Fowler is the host of the nationally syndicated radio program “The Richard Fowler Show,” which can also be viewed on YouTube as an affiliate of The Young Turks network. He appears regularly on Fox News, MSNBC and C-SPAN. He is also a senior fellow for the New Leaders Council. Follow him on Twitter @RichardAFowler.