I sometimes hesitate to add to the general ‘noise’ around Donald Trump as at times it can seem overwhelming. Hopefully he will exit the White House drama free in January and we can look forward and move on from this very bizarre four years. As far as I’m concerned any second more of Trump in the White House is a second too long for what has been a disastrous administration. I have no doubt how history will judge his tenure – with disdain and incredulity as an absolute black mark against many good American values and principles; decency, fairness, integrity, respect and honesty. How did he even get there in the first place?

I wanted to share some of my experiences as a ‘foreigner’ living through these times and hopefully offer some insights. I live in Huntington Beach, Orange County, California, a very Southern Californian beach town just south of Los Angeles. Historically the OC has tended to sway Republican although in the last election it turned blue – like other parts of the US a result of demographics (more Latino votes, younger voters). I am a member of a Facebook group for my neighborhood which occupies a square mile block in South Huntington Beach. In the run up to the election some of the debates got quite heated and in many regards can be seen as a temperature gauge to what is a very polarized country politically.

A lot of the debate heat came from one house in particular which proudly displayed a host of Trump flags in a what was a very OTT display. There were four flags on the roof, numerous placards on the lawn and even a life-size cardboard cut out of Trump in the hall way (door proudly left open for display). The flags were the classic ‘Make America Great Again’, ‘Trump Pence 2020’ and a ‘Q Anon’ flag (an absurd conspiracy theory) from Wikipedia:  a far-rightconspiracy theory^[b] alleging that a cabal of Satan-worshippingpedophiles is running a global child sex-trafficking ring and plotting against US PresidentDonald Trump, who is fighting the cabal.

All the flag waving was very aggressive and in your face – much like Trump. There were other supports of Trump (and also Democrats) who showed their support with a few placards on the lawn which seemed less shouty / confrontational and more moderate. I find it weird even to be so public about your political views as this isn’t a thing in the UK. The debate really got ugly when the Trump fan hoisted a flag depicting Trump’s face overlaid on an AK47 wielding Rambo.  Again, very aggressive and frankly weird. I had first seen this flag a few days earlier in the back of a pick up truck as it drove down PCH. At the time I was quite shocked. It seemed to glorify – in an almost ISIS manner – violence and came across as very extreme. I couldn’t imagine the leader of our country superimposed over a gun toting movie star but then – thankfully – we never had a reality show TV star as our leader. 

Some of the local residents – rightly in my opinion – took offense at the flag and said so publicly on the Facebook forum. Arguments ensued – the Rambo flag waver angrily refused to take it down and signed off with ‘…and you can kiss my ass’ so the polarization became even more, er, polarized. This seemed to one of the defining take homes of the Trump effect. Extreme division. You either totally love him – in a weird cultish suspension of critical faculties way. Or totally hate him. There’s nothing in between. As the disrupter in chief Trump liked to fuel this division. The people – like me – who despise him can’t comprehend how others can’t see him for what he is – a con man – and call him out for his dreadful behavior. Of course a lot of this division is amplified by social media as everyone lives in their respective echo chambers in what is best described as parallel universes. In my own case, I like to think I’ve come to the right conclusions about Trump unaffected by the effects of social media. I only think you have to listen to him speak – listen to what he says, with no media filter – to work it out for yourself. His speeches are incoherent, rambling and nonsensical, repeated self aggrandizing and boasts, jumping all over the place, speech patterns which clearly illustrate a very disorganized mind.

This is all – hopefully very soon – history. We have a new President who seems to be already setting the tone for a more reasonable and less divided debate allowing respect for difference. Let’s look forward – the car crash will soon be in the rear view mirror. Plus the aggressive Trump flag waver has taken his flags down – if I see him whilst walking my dog around the neighborhood I will offer my condolences after he has had sufficient time to finish licking his wounds.