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Next US battle lines shift to academia and media

Next US battle lines shift to academia and media
Donald Trump. PHOTO/@POTUS45/X

Incoming US President Donald J. Trump and his Republican Party have a clean slate – they call it a trifecta – constituting the new administration that will be in place in Washington by next week. This party that leans to the right of American politics has control of Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives), the White House, and the Supreme Court.

This baffles. This party’s leadership is known for everything that would repulse most mainstream voters. Elections are won in the middle. This is the theory of the perfect curve. It assumes that, on social issues, some people occupy the left and others the right of the centre. These two extremes tend to balance, but the sizable populations float somewhere in the middle, often paying scant attention. The issues of concern range from the death penalty to abortion rights.

The previous Democratic Party administration led by Barack Obama, with Joe Biden as second in command, could have been considered conservative, given its leaders’ religious leanings. Obama was long known for his adherence to the United Church of Christ in Chicago. However, he resigned his membership following some controversial statements made by the pastor, Rev Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

The Democratic Party has often held views left of the centre. It argues for the abolition of the death penalty, the dignity of life, a woman’s right to choose, and shared economic and social responsibility, which some characterise as socialism. Closer to home, the Washington-led administration was in a big fight with the government in Kampala, which had passed laws punishing what Kampala considered abhorrent sexual orientation practices. Nairobi, however, appeared to have played along with Washington, earning Kenya’s President star treatment as a guest of the White House.

Yet, for most American citizens, it appears Washington of the Democrats had swung too far to the left. Much of the public stayed in the middle regarding some of these social issues. Could it have been that most feared that Kamala Harris, who was campaigning to continue the legacy of Biden, was feared to entrench this liberalism too far to the left with little potential of capturing the middle of society with it?

Statements from Trump could be abrasive, macho and in your face. They are the very antithesis of liberalism and political correctness. His position on most social issues is publicly known. He has barraged some of the sacred military positions. The surprise is that both Arab Americans and Jewish Americans, each holding a polar position on the war in the Middle East, were united in voting for him in the elections that mattered, giving him victory.

African-Americans, particularly the young ones, voted for him, as did women, whom he had disparaged in his earlier statements and who were believed to differ from Trump regarding a woman’s right to choose.

Nature can correct itself if it appears to have veered off course. Maybe Trump’s candidacy was the path to righting the swing to the left. The media and the academic community are caught in between. Long considered conservative, the Republican Party has successfully dealt with some of the leading universities, which are increasingly putting liberalism to check by sending their leaders home. Four Ivy League universities — the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, Colombia University, and even Harvard — have felt the brunt, with their presidents resigning.

Trump has long had an axe to grind with the media. Some of his appointees do not shy away from promising to deal with liberalism in the media. The media does not just report; it is not simply a reflection of society but rather an active sharpener of public opinion. With Congress, the Supreme Court, and the White House gone the Republican Party way, the following battle lines are in the university and the media. Should these be conquered as well, then the swing to the right will be comprehensive and complete.

— The writer is the Dean of Daystar University’s School of Communication-

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