Two self-proclaimed outsiders to the political system, Erdogan and
Modi also rose to political power on the back of anger and disaffection with
the establishments.
US
Election 2020: Four
years after his shock victory, U.S. President Donald Trump seems to be running
on empty. Opinion polls predict a win for former Vice President Joe Biden. In
some Democratic circles, the word “landslide” is being jubilantly whispered.
It seems that
Trump is finally being judged on his performance, especially his calamitous
response to the coronavirus pandemic. His Republican colleagues have begun to
recoil from him. The president himself, already complaining about rigged
elections, seems to be expecting defeat.
And it is too late
for him to learn from two of his fellow elected autocrats and demagogues —
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
— who continue to win elections despite presiding over multiple political and
economic disasters.
Two
self-proclaimed outsiders to the political system, Erdogan and Modi also rose
to political power on the back of anger and disaffection with the
establishments in their respective countries.
Railing against
the corruption and nepotism of local elites, they endeared themselves to
numerous left-behinds. Like Donald
Trump, they connected with the lived experience of millions of people — the
feeling of being scorned as well as excluded by establishment politicians and
the mainstream media.
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