Donald Trump is Iron Man

[Kitsune9tails]

The following is an opinion.

Donald Trump is Iron Man. The Democrats could use a Captain America.

I have been doing some research, conversing with avowed Trump voters. I have been making an honest attempt to understand what kind of hero they see in him. My conclusion, thus far, is this: not only is Trump (at least superficially) a “genius, playboy, philanthropist” with access to the best technology and an avowed patriot, he has given many of the downtrodden of America something they desperately need: not a hero, but an enemy.

The desperate South Americans lying on concrete in improperly ventilated prisons on the border, with no clear plan for where they will be sent or when, separated from their children, guilty of only a misdemeanor: they are framed as alien invaders. Their torture and even their deaths become excusable, because Trump is framed as Iron Man, standing against an enemy.

But the important bit of this narrative is not so much Trump himself: it is the enemy. The enemy is framed as the source of all of our problems. They are taking jobs away from Americans (never mind that the jobs are being given away by HR managers and CEOs), they are committing crimes (never mind that roughly 8% of immigrants have criminal records, as opposed to 30% of US citizens). The reason the enemy is so important is as follows: the narrative we have been taught by Hollywood is that once the hero defeats the enemy in the big showdown, all of the minions go away. All of the problems are solved. Then you get your happily ever after.

In the last few months, with the “Southern Border invasion” out of the news, Trump has made his enemies “our” enemies: the Democrats. Now the narrative says that the showdown will be the next election. That will be the big fight with the Big Evil Democrat, whether that face is Biden or Warren or Sanders or Yang. Hollywood and the NFL has taught us that you just back your team, no matter what, and somehow that causes them to win. Then the opposite team just… goes away. You throw a party, then you get to have fun until next time.

I have spoken with many people who say that a Civil War is coming after the next election. Some seem to think that if Trump loses, the Right will rise up to keep him in office. Others seem to believe that if Trump wins, the Left will rise up to unseat him. None seem to understand that if that were true, they would be facing 100 million Americans, brother against brother. Few seem to comprehend that attacking Democrats for being Democrats is out and out domestic terrorism. It’s okay to kill people if they are bad people, right? Both sides seem to think that once the election is settled, the opposite side will settle into sullen silence, and stop pushing for what they want.


The Democrats fumbled the ball with Russia, wasting a packaged opportunity to unite America against their old enemy. Now they are trying to cast Trump himself as the enemy, the villain. That is not going to fly with 20% of the country; not because they are evil racists, just because they have picked their team and they are going to stick with them until the end, or until the evidence is so massive they cannot deny it. Until the magnitude of the crime is revealed to be something they cannot excuse ‘just this once’. Iron Man can make mistakes, he can be an asshole. Because he’s Iron Man, and at the end of the day, he’s still a good guy.

What the Democrats need is a Captain America. Someone who is unequivocally a good guy. Someone who can stand up against Iron Man and punch him in the face and not lose the good will of the audience. Someone who looks cool and has a superpower (an agenda, a set of policies, a plan) that everyone can get behind. Someone whose message is so clearly beneficial to the average American that even opponents can see that it is well-intentioned and plausible.

So long as this is good v evil, no one is going to budge. We have to change the narrative to ‘good guy rivals’. Batman v Superman. Iron Man v Captain America.

But in my opinion, the important bit here is that Trump voters can be understood. They are not Terminators. They can be reasoned with, they can be bargained with. But if you are giving them attitude for being Deplorables, or dismissing them as uneducated or even retarded, all you are going to do is put them more solidly behind Trump.

“Trump bad” is not going to save the country. To save the USA, we need a Captain America.