Egghead Democrats didn’t notice that Trump was leading the cool kids streaking down the quad in 2024.
Frat boys and pro athletes all doing the Trump dance
Donald Trump’s unique campaign trail dance to the YMCA has been picked up by fraternities and professional athletes as a celebration.
The year 2024 will be remembered for the climax of the most astounding political turnaround of our generation.
NFL players, a group that collectively battled against Donald Trump over the right to make political statements on the field, celebrated sacks and touchdowns by swinging an imaginary golf club and pumping their arms back and forth in a dance move that the president-elect made popular as he barnstormed the nation, teeing up supporters to pump him back into the White House.
“We are in the midst of a new MAGA cultural movement,” Donald Trump Jr. said on his podcast, Triggered, according to Newsweek magazine.
He’s not wrong.
NFL players fought Trump. Now they do his dance
It’s only been six years since Trump, a sitting president, took aim at NFL players, led by Colin Kaepernick, for kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality with the now-infamous quote: “Get those sons of b—-es off the field.”
Trump’s obstinance gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement that rocked major cities from coast to coast with protests in 2020.
It’s head-spinning to think that today players across the NFL and other major sports would be doing the Trump dance, a craze that pushed the button on microwaves of political thought from all corners of U.S. punditry.
Is this the end of activist athletes? (Certainly not.)
Were they mocking Trump or celebrating his election victory? (Both. But Nick Bosa was definitely celebrating.)
Is the Trump dance now a global phenomenon? (Sure — but that really, totally, absolutely, utterly, completely, actually, seriously, truly and verily, verily misses the point.)
Democrats wag their finger at everyone else
The Trump dance raises two major questions that we’ll be grappling with for years: How did we get here? And what does this mean for the future?
The answer, of course, depends on your perspective.
For conservatives, the NFL celebrations were moments of redemption. Proof that they were right all along. About Joe Biden. About the Wall. About what they always called “athletes disrespecting the flag.” About inflation. About gas prices. About the withdrawal from Afghanistan. About transgender people. All of it.
For liberals, the dancing was a signal that people just don’t get it. They don’t understand how big of a threat Donald Trump is. To democracy. To the climate. To the economy. To basic human decency. To women’s rights. To the national deficit. To race relations. All of that and more.
And that’s really how we got here.
Democrats spent so much time studying and thinking about how smart they were that they didn’t notice that Trump was leading the cool kids streaking down the quad.
Donald Trump is the revenge of the C-student.
Meanwhile, Trump spoke to the C-students
“Since day one of our Administration,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in August, touting the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, “President Joe Biden and I have made it a priority to strengthen the middle class by lowering costs, creating jobs and advancing opportunity.
“That is why we fought to enact our Inflation Reduction Act, historic legislation that I was proud to cast the tie-breaking vote on in the Senate. In the two years since President Biden signed it into law, this landmark bill has already delivered for American families.”
Trump’s response?
“Bacon and gas cost too much. We need to fix it. Now.”
OK, that’s not an actual quote, but it might be. Donald Trump talks to people where they are in a language they understand.
What’s that old saying about a smart man being the one who makes other people feel smart? Trump is a master at that.
He’s also as funny as a teenager on the back of a school bus, calling opponents by nicknames like “Crooked Joe” and “Inflation Harris.”
None of this means I’m suddenly a Trump fan
I might not like it. You might think it’s emblematic of a breakdown in the American education system and a rise in general incivility, but you and I only have two votes. Everybody else is dancing with the guy who pardoned Lil’ Wayne.
Please understand, I’m not suddenly a Trump supporter. I’ve said I think he’s a racist more times than I can count.
But trying to prove that is as futile as trying to prove the existence of God. People believe what they believe. All I can do is provide my evidence and let you make up your own mind.
He didn’t let Black people live in his apartments. He led a media lynching of the Central Park Five. He tried to say Barack Obama wasn’t American.
He refused to acknowledge Black people’s concerns over police. He hung out with a Holocaust denier in Mar-a-Lago. He called majority Black nations “s—hole countries.”
He called immigrants “terrorists” and “rapists.” There was that whole Muslim ban … but I’ll stop, because it leads me to my next point.
America often reviles those it later immortalizes
America is a nation of second looks.
Martin Luther King Jr. was reviled before he was a hero. Same with Muhammad Ali. Snoop Dogg was a gang member before he was the face of the Paris Olympics. College professors teach poetry courses using Tupac Shakur lyrics.
What if Trump was just misunderstood all this time?
What if his “chest up, chin out, screw you” attitude toward foreign relations is exactly what we need to strengthen the dollar?
What if his tariffs lead to a stronger economy?
And what if he’s right that he’s the “best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln?”
If all that’s true, we’ll look back at November 2024, starting with Trump’s swing state sweep and stopping with him shimmying with Jon Jones after a UFC fight, as the start of most astounding political turnaround of our generation.
Of course, it might not be true.
Democrats must stop playing the teacher’s pet
It might be true that liberals were right all along, but they just couldn’t communicate it in a way that people could understand or get excited about.
If that’s the case, this is a time where loyal opposition is more important than ever. That means Democrats can’t check out; there’s simply too much at stake.
But they would do well to learn a lesson from their adversary.
Donald Trump gets people going by making them feel seen, heard and protected. He comes off like a jock sticking up for a nerd who’s been getting bullied by delinquents after school.
Democrats? They come off like teachers’ pets.
It’s fine if you want to prove how smart you are. It’s a bad strategy if you’re trying to win support from a nation full of C-students who just want to dance with their favorite players at the next big game.
Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @SayingMoore.
