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Trump has a new go-to political foil: An imaginary version of California
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/23/trump-has-new-go-to-political-foil-an-imaginary-version-california/President Trump’s embrace of campaigning in recent weeks has meant a lot of time spent delivering off-the-cuff comments into live microphones, which in turn has meant a lot of assertions that are obviously false or likely made up on the spot.
Among the ways in which Trump deploys his imagination during his rallies is by telling stories about people who, by all appearances, are nonexistent but who Trump introduces in order to bolster his policy or political standing. There was, for example, “Jim,” a friend who once told Trump he would no longer visit Paris, a city he loved, because of the threat of terrorism. There are numerous unnamed business leaders who tell Trump about things they’ve done that bolster the president rhetorically or who praise his decisions. And there are battalions of people who come up to Trump with the same introduction: “Sir,” they’ll say, then setting up a straw man for Trump to decapitate.
In recent rallies, a new imaginary figure has entered Trump’s rotation: A version of California that better resembles the fever dream of a Breitbart columnist than the state itself. Trump introduces this California as a foil mostly for his rhetoric about immigration, but also, it seems, because his efforts to tie progressive policies to problems in Venezuela (another frequent trope of late) may be more effective when linked to a state already treated with skepticism by his base.
So what are we talking about? Things like this, from his rally in Arizona on Friday.
“That’s why Democrats want to give illegal immigrants the right to vote. How about in California, where illegal immigrants took over the town council, and now the town council is run by illegal immigrants in the town!” he exclaimed. “I mean, is this even believable?”
That’s so California, right, a town where immigrants in the country illegally take over a town council? Except that it isn’t really believable, having apparently only happened in imaginary California. There was a town that in 2015 appointed two undocumented immigrants to city commissions, which is to “taking over the town council” what being named ambassador to Chile is to “taking over Congress.” If there’s a town in California where immigrants in the country illegally took over a town council — much less on the strength of votes from undocumented immigrants — it’s not clear where that is.
Among the ways in which Trump deploys his imagination during his rallies is by telling stories about people who, by all appearances, are nonexistent but who Trump introduces in order to bolster his policy or political standing. There was, for example, “Jim,” a friend who once told Trump he would no longer visit Paris, a city he loved, because of the threat of terrorism. There are numerous unnamed business leaders who tell Trump about things they’ve done that bolster the president rhetorically or who praise his decisions. And there are battalions of people who come up to Trump with the same introduction: “Sir,” they’ll say, then setting up a straw man for Trump to decapitate.
In recent rallies, a new imaginary figure has entered Trump’s rotation: A version of California that better resembles the fever dream of a Breitbart columnist than the state itself. Trump introduces this California as a foil mostly for his rhetoric about immigration, but also, it seems, because his efforts to tie progressive policies to problems in Venezuela (another frequent trope of late) may be more effective when linked to a state already treated with skepticism by his base.
So what are we talking about? Things like this, from his rally in Arizona on Friday.
“That’s why Democrats want to give illegal immigrants the right to vote. How about in California, where illegal immigrants took over the town council, and now the town council is run by illegal immigrants in the town!” he exclaimed. “I mean, is this even believable?”
That’s so California, right, a town where immigrants in the country illegally take over a town council? Except that it isn’t really believable, having apparently only happened in imaginary California. There was a town that in 2015 appointed two undocumented immigrants to city commissions, which is to “taking over the town council” what being named ambassador to Chile is to “taking over Congress.” If there’s a town in California where immigrants in the country illegally took over a town council — much less on the strength of votes from undocumented immigrants — it’s not clear where that is.
