“A whole society will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” Donald Trump 2026.
I could write a long list of what these words aren’t in an attempt to convey the significance of this moment — but I won’t. I think that would be a waste of words in an attention economy facing rampant inflation. Instead, I will state it plainly. This is a demand for genocide coming from one of, if not the most powerful, people in the world.
This call for mass atrocity comes alongside threats of other war crimes — blowing up power plants and bridges. These threats, of course, came from another one of Trump’s recent posts on Truth Social. A post with language so abhorrent and vulgar, I’m not sure I am allowed to quote it in the Weather Vane.
Yet still, some people question the importance of these posts. Many see them as empty threats, which oftentimes they are. He has delayed the deadline he set for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz several times in the past week alone. In my opinion, though, it doesn’t matter if they are empty or not. Well, obviously, it matters in the sense that it may or may not spark a global war, leaving hundreds of thousands or millions dead. What I mean is that even if they are empty threats, they still matter.
Every time Trump makes an insane claim in an interview or posts some demented rant on social media, it desensitizes us to his irrational behavior. His absurdity is making what was previously radical seem tolerable.
There is nothing I like about Donald Trump. He is a dangerous man who has caused devastation for a truly unquantifiable number of people. When faced with such horrid circumstances, we try to find some sense of comfort. For me, that comfort was the idea that Trump’s presence in politics had turned the Republican Party into a cult of personality, which would inevitably crumble in his absence. There seemed to be no figure large enough to fill the soon-to-be Trump-sized hole. Enter: Tucker Carlson.
A little over a year ago, I started getting clips of Tucker Carlson where he was espousing populist rhetoric to the amusement of his in-person crowd and the online comment sections. The level of support he was receiving from seeming non-right-wingers was alarming. I remember telling my mom how scared I was of Carlson’s rising popularity and the possibility of a presidential run in his future.
He communicates in a way that speaks to the common man, similar to Trump, especially 2016 Trump. Yet he is also somehow able to come off as a more moderate figure, appealing to the old-fashioned Republican from times of old. This moderate status is only possible because of Trump’s push to the far right, and the rise of figures like Nick Fuentes, whom Carlson coincidentally interviewed.
Carlson is obviously aware that radical personalities push and pull people in his direction. He is able to navigate this relationship with the far right in a way that keeps the fanbase of Fuentes in his favor, while not attracting the same criticism that Fuentes receives. He provides a masterclass in political doublespeak.
Not to sound like too much of a liberal, but this is why language matters. Every empty threat from Trump swings the pendulum in the wrong direction. The absurd rhetoric of Fuentes makes Carlson seem like a safe moderate choice. The words of our leaders hold so much power in shaping our cultural landscape. Recognise all of this talk for the insanity that it truly is.
