From Putin to Bibi to Bolsonaro, How Are Trump’s Right-Wing Pals Around the World Getting On Without Him? Slate 2 hrs ago
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There may be few public figures as quintessentially American as Donald Trump, but the 45
th president’s election in 2016 was also widely seen as part of a global political backlash against liberalism, globalization, and immigration. It was a wave that included the 2016 Brexit referendum, the growing influence of far-right populist parties in Europe, and democratic backsliding in countries like Brazil and India. Trump and his officials invited the comparisons. He called himself “Mr. Brexit” on the campaign trail and semi-endorsed far-right candidates like France’s Marine Le Pen; his ambassador to Germany and all-purpose global troll Richard Grenell said he saw it as his mission to “empower other conservatives throughout Europe” who are “experiencing an awakening from the silent majority.”
, a series of stories checking in on how things are going now for the people and products that were riding high during the last administration.
When history textbooks take on the Trump era, every page will surely feature some mention of the 45
th president’s tweets. It’s hard to say which was ultimately more exhausting, at least for me the tweets themselves or the media’s obsession with and hand-wringing over those tweets. But about four months after his suspension from the platform, one thing feels increasingly true: Trump’s presence kept Twitter culturally relevant. And now, the limits and frustrations of Twitter as a platform have never seemed more clear.
There may be few public figures as quintessentially American as Donald Trump, but the 45
th president’s election in 2016 was also widely seen as part of a global political backlash against liberalism, globalization, and immigration. It was a wave that included the 2016 Brexit referendum, the growing influence of far-right populist parties in Europe, and democratic backsliding in countries like Brazil and India. Trump and his officials invited the comparisons. He called himself “Mr. Brexit” on the campaign trail and semi-endorsed far-right candidates like France’s Marine Le Pen; his ambassador to Germany and all-purpose global troll Richard Grenell said he saw it as his mission to “empower other conservatives throughout Europe” who are “experiencing an awakening from the silent majority.”