It was an odd time for the inauguration goers to sing the boos. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, a liberal Democrat, had just delivered a few lines that could have easily prompted applause had they been uttered by President Donald Trump, the populist Republican most people in attendance were there to celebrate.
“We live in a challenging and tumultuous time; an interconnected world; a rapidly changing economy that benefits too few, while leaving too many behind,” Schumer said.
Trump has decried globalism, an economic and political arrangement whose product could be described as an “interconnected world”. Trump has thus resisted unabated economic change—”a rapidly changing economy” that has cost industrial jobs—and spoken to what he called on Friday the “pain” of people he vowed not to forget.
Schumer continued about the traits of our times: “a fractured media, a politics frequently consumed by rancor.”
Trump ostensibly loathes the media. They are his helpful adversary. He and the cable-print machine have a mutualistic relationship despite their antagonism toward each other. But the average Trump supporter would doubtlessly support Schumer’s claim that the media are “fractured”; in fact, he might say the claim is insufficient. “Fake news,” is more like it.
What’s also more apropos is “a politics frequently consumed by self-interest, nefarious aims, and outright dismissal of ‘We, the People.'” The word “rancor” doesn’t begin to cut it. “Rancor” is a butter knife.
Based on what we have come to understand about the motivations of Trump voters, Schumer’s statements should not have been objectionable. In fact, they should have been greeted cordially, or even cheered. His description of American deficiencies would be described a while later by Trump himself as “American carnage”, a phrase presumably written by the president’s men and not David O. Russell.
Yet, with a half-full crowd, based on the empty covers laid across the National Mall, we still heard resonant jeers:
There was no indication that a protestor or a group of them had prompted this dissent. There was no anti-Trump chant audible enough to inspire a counter-protest; the sound flows unobstructed between Capitol Hill and the Washington Monument, and the beginning of Schumer’s remarks were set against silence. The aforementioned quotations are how he began his address. There was no run-up.
Schumer continued: “We face threats foreign and domestic. In such times, faith in our government, our institutions, and even our country can erode. Despite these challenges, I stand here today confident in this great country for one reason: you, the American people.”
Donald Trump couldn’t have said it any better himself. We know, because he practically said it.
