President Trump isn’t just firing off rhetoric with his attacks on the MS-13 gang. The president is cleverly mobilizing his populist base in service of his political interests.
It begins with “animals.” More specifically, with Trump’s description of MS-13 gang members as subhuman “animals” who deserve no mercy or sympathy. But while some have reacted uncomfortably to the “animal” description, I think Trump is onto a political winner here.
At the most basic level, anyone who has had any interaction with MS-13 knows that they are very unpleasant people. Even where individuals have been caught in the gang cycle and are not inherently immoral as individuals, MS-13’s organizational focus on earning maximum revenue from very violent criminal activity renders them hard targets for sympathy.
[Related: MS-13 gang member known as ‘Animal’ sentenced to 40 years in prison]
In turn, there are a great many families in Hispanic-dominant neighborhoods, police officers, families of incarcerated prisoners (MS-13 controls prison dorms with grave brutality), and former MS-13 members who despise the group to its core.
Those emotionally-held beliefs give Trump a significant base of support, partly made of up his traditional supporters but also made up of others who would otherwise oppose him, with which to push his MS-13 message. As more stories come out on what MS-13 has actually done and more reporters take the time to read court records of MS-13 crimes, Trump’s position will only grow more popular. I think Trump knows that full well.
More than that, while Trump’s fire-from-the-hip style might normally alienate those outside his base, on this issue, Trump assumes a moral leadership that lends him broader presidential credibility.
Yet, Trump isn’t simply trying to make himself more popular.
His attacks on MS-13 also serve as a vehicle to reach his other policy priorities. Most notably, the wall that Trump wants constructed on the southern U.S. border.
Trump’s problem here, however, is that many Republicans in Congress remain unconvinced that the wall is a good choice for large appropriations. These Republicans certainly don’t believe the wall worth sacrificing other policy priorities. But by pushing his MS-13 narrative, Trump energizes his populist base in support of his wall agenda and thus exerts pressure on skeptical Republicans to support it.
The risk is that Trump’s comments against MS-13 get misconstrued as an attack on all illegal immigrants, most of whom are not nearly as evil as MS-13 members. The president would have more political effect and moral authority if he kept his focus laser-tight on MS-13.
Ultimately, though, many Hispanic-Americans will probably endorse Trump’s action at the margin. After all, their communities are the ones most afflicted by the MS-13 scourge.
