Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Trump voters remember when America was great.
They remember when smart, capable white men weren’t losing jobs to unqualified diversity hires. They distinctly recall when colleges admitted students based on “merit” instead of affirmative action. Before the anti-white “woke mob” began enforcing “cancel culture,” Black people weren’t always complaining about racism, men had sex with women, trans people didn’t exist, women didn’t get abortions and Mexicans stayed in Mexico.
Except that never happened.
Even if that era of American greatness never happened, a lot of white people feel like it did. That’s why Trump based his entire presidential campaign on nothing but fear, xenophobia and white grievance. It’s also why his rambling, racist bid to return to the White House was so successful. The new president-elect managed to tap into the thing white America wants most:
Greatness.
And with the first-round pick for attorney general, Donald Trump selects Matt Gaetz as attorney general.
You shouldn’t be shocked that an accused sex trafficker, election-denying, pro-criminal, anti-justice, single parent of a grown Black child might be the next attorney general. After all, Pete Hegseth, a Fox News commentator who the Defense Department wouldn’t let get near the president because of his ties to extremist groups, could become the secretary of defense. Nine Native American tribes literally banned Trump’s choice for Homeland Security chief from their native American homelands. Right-wing extremist Stephen Miller will serve as deputy chief of staff for policy and advise the DHS on its fight against right-wing extremists. Trump wants to let a billionaire whose companies profit from the federal government make the federal government more efficient. To be fair, Musk will share the Director of Government Efficiency post with known scammer Vivek Ramaswamy. To project strength to the rest of the world, Trump chose Marco Rubio as secretary of state.
If any of this concerns you about America’s future, don’t worry. In America, being mediocre and white is the first prerequisite to becoming great. In fact, to understand how white mediocrity became the standard for Donald Trump’s plan to build white America’s team, look no further than the organization at the intersection of competitiveness, capitalism and American exceptionalism.
I remember when the Dallas Cowboys were great.
As a kid growing up in the ’80s, the Cowboys were in the Super Bowl almost every year. Led by one of the winningest coaches in NFL history, Tom Landry’s team dominated pro football. Because of their dominance, the team gained a nationwide fan base that cemented the franchise in pro football history as “America’s team.” That’s why I fell in love with the perfect example of sports exceptionalism — because they were the best. Ask anyone. They remember.
Except that never happened.
Although I distinctly recall the team of my youth appearing in multiple Super Bowls, they actually won one championship before I became an adult. Even worse, I was probably too young to remember the 1978 Super Bowl. The Cowboys weren’t even among the 10 winningest teams of the 1980s. According to actual math, the 1990s Buffalo Bills were better than the Cowboys during that decade the 1990s. It turns out that the “great” Coach Tom Landry ranks 37th in all-time winning percentage and was never selected as coach of the year during my lifetime. And apparently, fans didn’t name the Cowboys “America’s team.” The nickname came from an NFL Films script.
But who cares about those “woke” facts? If you think team popularity is a product of marketing, selective amnesia and bandwagon-riding, then you just hate the Cowboys. If fans feel like their team is the best, then that’s what matters. That’s why Jerry Jones owns the most valuable sports team in the world. And why is everyone hating on Jerry Jones? Yes, his record as an owner has been mediocre since purchasing the team in 1989.
Ultimately, he just wants to make America’s team great again.
Yes, Donald Trump is basically politics’ Jerry Jones — snake-oil salesmen masquerading as business tycoons. They are both old men who built fortunes despite running their businesses into the ground. They share a love for male athletes’ penises and they both hate Colin Kaepernick. They both want us to believe they are smart and their sons are smarter. Neither Jones nor Trump seem to know how the sun works. But, to be fair, they are different. One is a racist who has aligned himself with anti-Blackness time and time and time and time again.
The other is Donald Trump.
Despite their dismal records as leaders, America can’t get enough of them. At the beginning of every season’s campaign, their fans are convinced they’re going to be great. Then again, it’s not hard to believe that Matt Gaetz knows anything about justice if you believe Dak Prescott will win a Super Bowl. I remember when Ezekiel Elliott was a real running back and Marco Rubio was a real conservative.
But this doesn’t mean that MAGA voters are stupid. They’re just fans of their team, and I understand why people believe Donald Trump’s alt-right all-star squad can Make America great again.
I thought I lived in a country that would elect a Black woman as president. I believed racism, dementia and stupidity were enough to disqualify a presidential candidate. I believed white women would reject whiteness to protect their own interests. I believed Hispanic men would do the same. I thought that democracy could defeat white supremacy. I honestly believed America could actually be great.
I was wrong.
But I can’t wait til next season.
Michael Harriot is a writer, cultural critic and championship-level Spades player. His NY Times bestseller Black AF History: The Unwhitewashed Story of America is available in bookstores everywhere.
