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John M. Crisp, an opinion columnist for Tribune News Service, lives in Texas.
No one at the Republican National Convention seemed to be much impressed by the irony:
After his near-assassination, many speculated that Donald Trump might temper his speech on the convention’s last night to reflect a chastened, less belligerent Trump, one more open to unity and mutual respect.
But the three speakers who preceded Trump on the platform were Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment; Hulk Hogan, renowned professional wrestler; and Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and promoter of Power Slap, who introduced the former president.
White said that Trump is “a fighter.” “I’m in the tough-guy business,” he said, “and this man is the toughest, most resilient human being that I have ever met in my life.” Trump is a “real American badass!”
In fact, the theme of the evening was badassery, and Hogan was its most impassioned proponent. He began by bragging about how tough he himself is. As his ardor swelled, he ripped off his shirt, revealing his powerful shoulders and biceps, as well as a red Trump/Vance tank top.
Hogan said that he had squared off in the ring with some of the biggest, baddest dudes on the planet, and he bragged about beating them all. Hogan knows “tough guys.” “But lemme tell you something, brother, Donald Trump is the toughest of them all.”
In this atmosphere, the kinder, gentler Trump didn’t last long — maybe 20 minutes — and at his rallies in subsequent days the briefly transformed Trump was eclipsed entirely by the Trump we know, the one who calls President Joe Biden “stupid,” Nancy Pelosi “crazy” and Kamala Harris a “bum.”
But Hogan’s speech conveyed a few more ominous elements worth noting. He praised all of the “real Americans” that he saw in the hall before him, and he promised that the tag team of Trump and Vance is going to “straighten this country out for all the real Americans.”
This got me thinking: Am I a “real American”? Are you?
My family has been in this country a long time. A direct ancestor, Thomas Hays, was born in Virginia in 1735 and served as a lieutenant during the Revolutionary War. The family made its way to Texas in the mid-19th century. Some of them fought in the Civil War (OK, they were on the wrong side, but nobody’s perfect).
My dad was in the Navy in the South Pacific in World War II. I was in the Navy during the Vietnam era. I always vote; I always pay my taxes; I always comply with the law, even the speed limit. Nobody in my family has been indicted for anything.
Of course, I disagree with many of Trump’s policies, as well as many of the proposals in Project 2025, some of which even Trump calls “seriously extreme.” But I also recognize the right for those policies to be tested in a national election and am fully willing to accept the result. Thus I acknowledged publicly Trump’s victory in 2016, as did Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and the vast majority of Democrats.
Does this qualify me to be “real American” in the minds of Hogan, Trump and the cheering thousands at the Republican Convention? I suspect that the answer is no.
In fact, the real answer is that, in Trump World, it’s not for you or me to say whether we’re “real Americans.” Trump and his party will make that determination for us.
When Trump becomes president, Hogan said, all the “real Americans are gonna be nicknamed ‘Trumpites’” and they are going to be “running wild” for the next four years and that’s what will make America great again.
There’s something ominous and creepily cultish about this language. “Trumpite” doesn’t describe allegiance to a party or ideology; it implies unwavering devotion to a man, which helps explain why the crowd so readily accepted much in Trump’s speech that just isn’t true. Just. Not. True.
But, to a true Trumpite, truth is determined by Trump.
“Let Trumpamania rule again!” Hogan shouted. Note carefully that ominous word “rule.”
