Latest
DU Beat – Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper
55 Results

donald trump

Search
DUB Speak

Donald Trump: Strictly American

By

Donald Trump has been inviting quite a bit of antagonism from the world. While some of his policies can still be comprehended, the others seem to date back to ancient Greece. He has managed to consciously alienate almost the entire 34.6 million Mexican American populations as he sees them as economic parasites. While Donald Trump’s own wife is an immigrant, the basic vendetta is to not let the poverty that the Mexicans bring with them burn large holes in the American taxpayers’ entitlements. He has specifically targeted the Mexicans for majority brutal crimes in the country claiming that 2011 saw about 3 million arrests in the same regard.

Trump’s grand solution is to build a wall, not a metaphorical wall, an actual concrete wall. This wall is said to cost way more than the 8 billion dollars he claims it will. The Mexican Government will be forced to pay for their own misery. Until they make this payment, there will be a series of continuous attempts to drive them out of the country by suffocating them with revised policies. These policies include: Impounding all remittances payments, increasing fees on all temporary visas issued to Mexican CEOs and diplomats, increase fees of border crossing cards, increase the fees on all NAFTA worker visas.

The actual cost predicted by experts is said to be over 25 billion dollars and is most likely to increase a considerable amount over the years as maintenance costs will float above the countries like an ominous cloud.

Trump’s reign wants to get rid of all supposed unwanted weeds through deportation. Mexican and non Mexican immigrants make up a population of 11.2 million and driving them out of the country will take an easy 20 years costing the government an incredibly large sum of 400 to 600 billion dollars. It’s safe to say that the Mexicans now perceive Trump as a clown. Many single women dependent on their kids who send them means of livelihood from across the border will lose their survival in a flash.

Responses to Trump’s campaign are getting more and more predictable by the day. Even Pammi Aunty back in India is now trashing the candidate in her hilarious lassi dipped vines, comparing him to the sinister ‘Mother in law’ who seems to dislike everyone for a reason only they can understand.

Feature Image Credits-
http://www.carbonated.tv/news/donald-trump-mexicans-racist-border-wall-comments

Baani Kashyap
[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

Should Donald Trump be taken seriously or not?

By

As the year draws to an end people begin to reflect upon the numerous events that took place around the globe in 2015. The Nepal Earthquake in April, the legalization of same sex-marriage in the US, the rise of the Islamic State and the exacerbation of the Syrian Refugee crisis are just some of the many events that gave rise to liberal thinking and humanitarianism among individuals across the world, and then came along an individual named Donald Trump.

Most people remember Trump as the intimidating billionaire on the hit US reality show entitled “The Apprentice” but today he is a US presidential candidate running one of the most bizarre political campaigns of our time. Whereas nearly half the world regards Trump as a joke that is likely to fade out over the next couple of months, one should not be too quick to dismiss him because the sad truth is that there are indeed a section of Americans who believe in Trump and the ideology he sells.

Donald Trump represents a portion of Americans who are fed up with the Democratic Party and the Obama Administration. One of the most successful businessmen in the world, Trump knows his audience and exactly what they want and he is the only Republican candidate who has been able to tap into the populist anger at Washington and the widespread xenophobia prevalent among the American people. Add this to the fact that Trump believes in American exceptionalism, is committed towards education, has the business acumen to help the US overcome the trillions of dollars of debt that it finds itself in and has a strong (some would say twisted) standpoint on immigration, is exactly why he has had a substantial lead in the polls for the Republican nomination for the last five months.

It is probably still too early to say what exactly will happen in 2016 but even if somehow Trump manages to win the Republican nomination, the chances of him actually becoming President of the United States are slim. Polls have long shown Hillary Clinton edging out all the Republican nominees including Trump and moreover his latest eruption demanding that Muslims be banned from entering the United States was so horrifying that many Republicans now are openly contemplating a vote for Ms. Clinton stating that Trump scares or concerns them (as he rightly should).

Trump may be giving us a good laugh at the moment, sitting on the other side of the world, but it is important to keep an eye on just how the American elections progress, after all a mad billionaire ruling the most powerful country in the world will not be a particularly amusing scenario in the near future.

Featured Image Credits: www.bbc.co.uk

Shraman Ghosh
[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

Donald J. Trump is USA’s President-elect: Twitter’s coping mechanism

By

Donald J. Trump is going to be the United States of America’s 45th President. We’ll give you a moment to let that sink in.

Amidst all chaos and an unexpected turn of events, the former (really, former?) business tycoon managed to sail the Republican boat to the shore of victory. And while this was certainly the least expected beginning to 9th November for most Americans, they and the rest of the world are relying on their best bets as coping mechanisms on Twitter.

Here’s a peek into how the social media exploded in the last twelve hours celebrating anxiety and confusion.

Let’s begin on a light note- 

 


There are some we know are voicing our worst fears-

 

We, here at DU Beat, have had our share of apprehension as we believe no nation shall be left unaffected with this huge turn in power. Here’s a glimpse of what the team had to say-

1

 

3

2

 

How did you deal with the ground-breaking news today? Let us know in the comments section!

Featured Image Credits: the guardian.com

Arushi Pathak
[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Features

Trump 2.0: Decoding the US Presidential Elections 2024

By

Trump, a man who has been indicted 91 times, convicted more than 30 times, impeached twice, has multiple allegations of sexual assault, and is accused of inciting insurrection, is effectively one of the most powerful men in the world. While the outcome is the same as in 2016, the man is different this time around. His supporters, more radicalised, are expecting hardcore changes, and he intends to deliver them.

 

With the world’s eyes on them, over 140 million Americans went to the polls on the 5th of November, 2024. In a high-stakes race to elect the 47th President of the United States, the Republican Party was represented by the infamous Donald Trump for President and JD Vance as Vice President, while the Democratic Party’s ticket was Kamala Harris and Tim Walz as President and Vice President, respectively. 

 

The incumbent president, Joe Biden from the Democratic Party, initially ran for re-election, but widespread calls for a younger candidate, along with his poor performance at the June 2024 presidential debate, led to his withdrawal and Harris’ nomination a month later. Trump, the 45th President of the USA, who had lost to Biden in 2020, ran for re-election for a non-consecutive term along with his running mate Vance. 

 

What was at stake?

This was a critical election for many reasons and the main electoral issues according to the polls were the economy, immigration, democracy, abortion rights, foreign policy (particularly concerning Israel), and climate change.

 

Perhaps one of the key concerns of this election was abortion rights. This was the first presidential election that was held after the American Supreme Court’s controversial decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. This saw widespread polarisation within American society, with the right-leaning population supporting a complete ban on abortions in all cases and the left-leaning population protesting the attack on women’s bodily autonomy. 

 

Immigration and border control also were one of the most widely debated issues by the voters. While Trump’s administration and policy have always been anti-immigration, this campaign saw more overt and conspicuous rhetoric. While the Democrat narrative may have seemed comparatively subtle, at its core it was also opposed to immigration.

 

Voters cited the economy as their top issue across many polls. Harris proposed raising taxes on corporations and high-earners to fund services for the lower and middle classes and reduce the deficit, while Trump’s economic policies can be described as protectionist and Neo-mercantilist.

 

Another crucial issue this year was America’s foreign policy, particularly in regard to Israel and Russia. Following the Israeli offensive,  a wave of protests rocked the United States, particularly on its college campuses, urging the administration to withdraw support from Israel. Thus, Palestine formed a central focus for a lot of voters.

 

Harris aligned herself with Biden’s foreign policy on supporting Ukraine and while she condemned Israel’s invasion of Rafah, she maintained Israel’s ‘right to defend itself.’ Trump also declared complete support for Israel while maintaining an isolationist ‘America First’ foreign policy, vowing to impose tariffs on even trade partners. He promises to cut military spending on foreign affairs. 

 

Democratic and republican campaigning strategy

 

Harris framed her campaign as “a choice between freedom and chaos” and based it around the ideals of “freedom” and “the future”. She aligned many of her policies to Biden’s appearing as more moderate in a bid to appeal to the more moderate conservatives. Her campaign became tethered to Biden’s crumbling legacy. 

 

Her campaign maintained a more optimistic and joyful approach while they failed to connect with the voters. While her candidacy was historic owing to her being a woman of colour running for President, it failed to translate into votes as her appeal seemed more abstract than grounded in the realities of voters’ everyday lives. 

 

Trump, on the other hand, heavily focused on dark and apocalyptic rhetoric about the state of the country and predicting doom if he did not win, making numerous false and misleading statements, and harnessing the tactics of fear mongering, all in his attempt to “make America great again”.

 

In the online world, which has a huge impact on the voting patterns of younger voters, Trump was able to mobilise support, particularly from younger men. His appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast as well as frequent endorsements by Elon Musk, led to an increase in his already huge popularity within the ‘manosphere,’ or the side of the internet dominated by men, while democrats reveled in the brat summer and the ‘bratification’ of Kamala Harris.

 

However, one of the most striking elements of the republican strategy was their unprecedented precision in targeted digital advertising. They were able to successfully harness the power of data analytics, tailoring ads to specific voter demographics based on nuanced local issues and cultural divides, while the democratic campaign stuck with more traditional approaches. For instance, in Michigan the Jewish communities received ads raising doubts about Harris’s stance on Israel, while in Pennsylvania, Muslim voters were shown ads criticising Harris’s perceived reluctance to advocate for a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict, allowing Republicans to pander directly to voter anxieties on a microscopic level.

 

Democrats, on the other hand, took the route of advertising to voters who they identified as moderate Republicans, spending as much as a billion dollars in digital ads. However, this strategy backfired as they did not see an increase in republican votes and failed to use that revenue to secure their democratic voter base. 

 

Voting demographics

While the opinion polls showed a very close fight between both candidates, almost split to 50-50, the results showed a clear tilt toward the Republicans.

 

There was an apparent increase of support towards Trump from the Black community with 16% of Black voters voting for him as compared to 8% in 2020, while 91% of black voters had supported Biden and 83% voted for Harris. 

 

Democrats also lost ground among Latino voters, with 56 percent voting for Harris in 2024 compared to 63 percent for Biden in 2020. Trump’s support grew from 35 percent in 2020 to 42 percent in 2024. Interestingly, 24% of Black men and 9% of Black women voted for Trump, clearly hinting at a gender divide among voters. This was also reflected among white voters, with 60% of white men voting for Trump as compared to 53% of white women. Younger voters from 18-44 years preferred Harris while those above 45 preferred Trump. Thus, Trump emerged as the most popular among older white males.

 

Indian-Americans, too, broke away from Democrats this year. From 2020 to 2024, the percentage of Indian-Americans identifying as Democrats dropped from 56% to just 47%, while support for Trump surged from 22% to 31%. This shift is particularly pronounced among younger Indian-American men

 

Result

The preliminary result with about 95% of the votes counted shows a clear victory for Donald Trump. Trump also had a clear sweep in the seven swing states with Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin all flipping to Republican from Democratic.

 

Trump has gained 50.5% of the votes and 312 of the 538 electoral votes and Harris, 47.92% as per the latest counting. Republicans have won a bigger share of votes in every state in 2024 compared to 2020. They lead the popular vote by about 4 million. 

 

What lies ahead 

Following the declaration of Trump’s apparent victory, Black Americans across many states received a text message asking them to ‘report for slavery.’ On Twitter harassment towards women surged, with the phrase ‘your body, my choice’, referring to the ban on abortion, being used as a catchphrase by many men. People, not only in America but across the world, are concerned over what Trump’s victory could mean. 

 

Experts believe that a federal abortion ban seems unlikely. Instead, the Trump administration may seek to reinstate the Comstock Act, which bans anything related to abortion from being sent by mail—effectively banning abortion nationwide. 

 

Trump in his campaign has also promised the ‘largest deportation’ hinting at a shift in his focus from immigrants at the border to those within the country, ones who have lived in the States for years. Trump’s re-election is also concerning news on the Gaza front, for he has declared unequivocal support for Israel.

 

On the economic front, economists theorise a possible increase in prices for Americans as Trump may seek to import a 10% tariff on all foreign goods. This could also have ramifications for America’s trade partners, including India.

 

How votes are counted and how it benefited the Republican Party

The victor is declared not based on who has the most number of votes, instead, both candidates compete to win contests held across the 50 individual states. In the United States, each state has a certain number of electoral college votes, partly based on population. Thus, when people vote for the president, they’re not voting directly for the candidate. Instead, they’re choosing electors in their state who will then vote for the president. There are 538 total votes in the electoral votes and a candidate requires 270 of those to win.

 

Most states use a rule where the candidate who gets the most votes in that state wins all of its electoral votes. This means if Candidate A wins by just one vote in a big state like Florida, they get all of Florida’s electoral votes. Some states usually vote for the same party every time, so candidates don’t spend a lot of resources on campaigning there. They instead chose to focus on a few key states, the swing states, where either party could win.

 

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this system is that a candidate can get more total votes from people across the whole country, the popular vote, but still lose the election if they don’t get enough electoral votes. This happened in 2016 when Hillary Clinton had more total votes from people but Donald Trump got more electoral votes and won the presidency. As of 11th November, 2024, Trump has long crossed the 270 mark, making him the undeclared winner, while the votes are still being counted. 

 

Trump, a man who has been indicted 91 times, convicted more than 30 times, impeached twice, has multiple allegations of sexual assault, and is accused of inciting insurrection, is effectively one of the most powerful men in the world. While the outcome is the same as in 2016, the man is different this time around. His supporters, more radicalised, are expecting hardcore changes, and he intends to deliver them. 

 

Read also: US Elections and impact on India

 

Featured Image Credits: NPR

 

Disha Bharti

[email protected] 

Keep Reading
By
Uncategorized

Attack on Indian Diaspora under Trump’s Rule

By

The world community is now at a stage where anti-globalisation sentiments are clearly visible among all sects of people. A major section of the United Kingdom voting in the favour of Brexit is evidence of the same. So is the result of the US presidential election that made Donald Trump, President Trump.

Donald Trump, in his campaign, appealed to the angst and resentment that certain parts of the population had towards the immigrants who got jobs in the United States, making them feel deprived of the opportunities apparently meant for them. He also allegedly synonymised terrorism with the Muslims, making them look like the reason for all terrorism-related problems. Having come to power, his xenophobic feelings got transfused with the state machinery which led to the introduction of laws like the Travel Ban.

Strangely, there has been an increase in the number of attacks on immigrants including people belonging to the Indian diaspora. An Indian-born engineer was shot dead in a Kansas bar on 30 March and witnesses said that the gunman shouted “Go back to your country” before opening fire. This is not the only incident or diaspora that’s under attack. The question that arises here is whether it’s just a coincidence or is there some correlation between these events?

When a person gets voted into a position of authority, his or her opinion gets a huge amount of legitimacy and following. Such persons get recognised as what various social theorists call ‘opinion leaders’. This has the propensity of fetching their narrative legitimacy, making it a hegemonic narrative. Once that happens, sects of people ascribing to that narrative assume a sense of authority and end up imposing their views on others, sometimes violently. This phenomenon is not just prevalent in the United States. It can be seen in our country as well. Yogi Adityanath becoming the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and shutting down meat shops is one such example. All such incidences give rise to a very important question – is it not necessary for people assuming such offices to be careful of the messages they transmit, directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally?

Image Credits: Politusic

Aditya Narang

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Your Beat

Putin-Trump Romance: What do we need to fear?

By
trump

 

It is official. Donald Trump is the new occupant of the Oval Office.  But the recently uncovered ‘golden shower’ fiasco and the alleged election scandals against him need not be proved. The mere possibility of an anti-thesis to the Cold War times is equally disturbing, and dangerous.

We tell you how.  We also tell you how this couple is similar to the infamous Hitler-Stalin duo.

Soon after the American elections, The Guardian came out with a report citing that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had applied for a warrant to look into contact between four Trump campaigners and Russian officials. We later came to know of memos penned by a former British spy about Donald Trump’s Russian links. Taking lead from Trump’s preference for obscenities, Putin called those ordering the infamous dossier, the documents which investigated Trump’s Russian ties, as nothing less than prostitutes.

Some of these allegations might just be a hysteria against the Trumpism. But an undeniable product is the fact that Vladimir Putin has developed his interests in America’s internal affairs, with Donald Trump, the real-estate-mogul-and-not-a-politician president as his ally. He knows that the novice will trust him in spite of all odds, and together they would make Russia great again.

Mr. Putin, though cynical about everything western, has had a particular disdain for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).  With Trump, he will strongly cut short the Western European alliance in the western Russian front.  He surely will love to lessen the European influence in the Russian periphery and the Arctic circles by flexing his muscles and trashing the Article 5 of Washington Treaty which says that war for any European nation means a war for America. With America checked and EU neutralized, he shall plan doing to many more parts of the world what he recently did to Aleppo.

 

Tom Tugendham opines in a leading English daily that as Donald Trump shall remain hypnotized by the allurements of economic possibilities, Putin shall slowly make his way into the American system. Dismantling the Paris climate deal and hence revoking the $500 billion Exxon oil and gas drilling sanction in the arctic region will be among his premier agendas.

One thing for sure, Putin shall never care for American greatness. He cannot be America’s or for that reason any other nation’s ally. With Trump already been compromised, as reports say, Putin may use cyber attacks, energy and economic pressure, psychological warfare, targeted use of bribery, disinformation, military intimidation and espionage at all diplomatic levels. With the premier infiltrated, the rest does not seem impossible.

For the global environmental, economic and security concerns, let us hope that these two don’t walk down the aisles.

 

Feature Image Credits- NYbooks

Nikhil Kumar

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DUB News

Triumph for Trump: World leaders anxious

By
trump

The US elections have been a rollercoaster ride for the citizens, officials of governments and people around the world. World leaders have been quick to congratulate him on his historic win. Sparks of outrage, tension and nervousness led to hopes of better bilateral relations between the US and other countries. We can say that America, at this point, has an unpredictable future ahead. Below compiled are different countries’ reactions to Trump’s win.

India

Trump had highlighted how he loved India and Hindus during his campaign. This might spell positive for India’s relations with the US but not so much for the H1b visa holders, for whom, reality has become a nightmare. If the President-elect decides to go ahead with the immigration policies, Indians working in the US are in big trouble.

Pakistan

Pakistan’s reaction seems to be circling around the ‘unpredictability’ the shock-win brings. While they definitely not apologizing for being accused of sheltering Osama, they certainly seem worried that Trump’s prejudice might further the cause of the failing Jihadist movement. Pakistan already beset with fighting terrorism on its borders might have to deal with a lot more. While some officials are anxious about the hardline approach, they are hoping in favour of America’s legacy of policy commitments and engagements.

Mexico

President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico was heavily criticized for receiving Trump during his campaign after the he had called Mexicans ‘rapists’ and vowed to build a wall between the two countries. Although after being elected, he was quoted saying it would be ‘more of a fence than a wall’. President Nieto expressed desire to continue and tighten bonds of bilateral relations between the two countries. Mexico’s economy is highly dependent on exports to the US.

Canada

Reacting to Trump’s landmark victory Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister congratulated him and stressed the importance of close ties between the two countries. He said Canada has no closer ally than the US and their friendship serves as a model to nations around the world. This came in the wake of Trump calling Canada’s export deal with the US as the ‘’worst trade deal in history.’’ A little more than 60 per cent of Canada’s global trade is accounted for by the US.

European Union

Donald Tusk, president of the European council and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European commission congratulated him and urged Trump to come to US-EU summit at his earliest convenience. At a recent meeting of the EU leaders, Juncker said that Trump’s victory poses ‘the risk of upsetting intercontinental relations in their foundation and structure’ and interestingly added that it would ‘take two years to explain how Europe worked to an ignorant Trump.’

United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May congratulated Donald Trump and said that Britain and the US have “an enduring and special relationship based on the values of freedom, democracy and enterprise”. She added that they will continue to maintain strong ties with the US to ensure the security and prosperity of the two nations. The head of the Number 10 policy unit at Downing street, a fierce critic of Trump described him as Trumpolini, after the Italian Fascist Mussolini. “It is clear that a genuine crisis of legimatacy is sweeping through the western political economy”, says Freeman.

France

The French President Francois Hollande congratulated Trump but with little enthusiasm. Hollande was a ardent supporter of Hillary and remarked that, “Certain positions taken by Donald Trump during the American campaign must be confronted with the values and interests we share with the United States”.

Germany

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany has close ties with the US and that the new President-elect will carry on the responsibility that comes with the seat of power. She goes on to say that Germany is willing to offer a close working relationship on the basis of the common values of democracy, freedom, respect for the law and human dignity irrespective of skin color, origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation and political conviction that both States share. It becomes clear that Germany is not going to entertain any of the hardheaded policies underlined in the Trump campaign.

China

President Xi Jinping called Trump to congratulate him on his victory and hoped to establish a working relationship while upholding the principles of ‘non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation’. He believes that ties with the US have benefitted the US more and was looking forward to working with the new administration.

Australia

As Trump’s votes began to rise on election day, the Australian shares started to go down with the dollar falling by 1.5 percent. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he Australia would work ‘as closely as ever’ with the US. He added by saying that, “the bond between our two nations, our shared common interests, our shared national interests are so strong, are so committed that we will continue to work with our friends in the United States”. Investors fear a ‘disastrous shock’ to the Australian economy if Trump’s economic policies go unchecked.

Here I have listed only a few countries but it can be safely said the world watches with bated breath, how the policies of the new American government unravel.

Image credits: Aljazeera, Christiansinpakistan, wallpapercave, noscommunicanos and samaatv.com

With inputs from The Guardian.

Arindam Goswami

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Uncategorized

What does a Trump Presidency entail for the Environment?

By

While the issue of climate change was treated as real and dangerous by President Obama, the same cannot be said for the new President – elect Donald Trump who believes that climate change is a hoax perpetuated by the Chinese. Studies show that poor countries like India, Pakistan, Vietnam and others would bear the brunt of climate change mostly because of their tropical location but also due to their greater reliance on agriculture, lower income of people, and less resilient infrastructure.

The current situation in India is smoggy, with four out of the ten most polluted cities being Indian, and the capital city’s poisonous air. In the past, US and India have shown commitment towards energy security and fighting climate change. USA joined the Paris Agreement and India followed.

Donald Trump has been adamant about scrapping off the Clean Power Plan and removing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While the EPA doesn’t handle all of the environment related issues (some of which are covered by other federal, tribal, state or local agencies), it does have a major role in the protection of environment. The EPA has been hit again and again by budget cuts and any further cuts would make it impossible to enforce laws like the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act. Shutting down the agency isn’t the answer either.

Image credits: Business Insider
Image credits: Business Insider

The transition team of Donald Trump, according to Politico, has recruited GOP energy lobbyist Mike McKenna , who has ties to the industry backed American Energy Alliance, and vocal climate skeptic  Myron Ebell, the director of Energy and Environment at the Competitive Energy Institution (which is funded by Koach brothers, and oil & gas companies). According to Ebell ‘any small increase in the global temperature is nothing to worry about’.

Mr Trump has offered his support to the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, protested against wind turbines (because the wind farms were visible from his golf course in Scotland), has close financial ties to the Energy Transfer Partner – the operators of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (according to his financial disclosure) that will lead to potential harm to the environment, effects on climate change, and the destruction of sacred Native American sites.

The 45th president of the United States of America has signalled his opposition to any restrictions on the development of oil, coal, or gas, making it clear that he doesn’t have plans to go green anytime soon and instead believes in reviving the coal industry, which according to experts won’t work due to tough competition from declining priced alternatives like natural gas and renewable energy sources. This, in fact, moves the attention away from the real proposal that is the transition of coal workers into new jobs in a new industry. While Trump’s call to ‘back out’ of the Paris deal won’t be possible, Lux Research modelled the impact that Trump’s policies would have, and it leads to an extra 3.4 billion tons of CO2 emission when compared to Hillary Clinton’s proposal.

Clearly, Donald Trump’s presidency would be a setback on the environment front unless he decides to change his proposal, which is unlikely to happen.

Feature Image: Chicago Tribunal 

Adarsh Yadav

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

A new wall :Trump’s victory comes exactly on the same day the Berlin Wall fell 27 years ago

By

Today is an eventful day. Donald Trump becomes the new President of the United States the same day the globally abhorred Berlin Wall fell in the year 1989. We draw a parallel between the two phenomenon and examine how 27 years from the historic incident, we have got our new wall maybe.

Twenty seven years ago, one of the most pronounced symbol of inter-community segregation was demolished. The Berlin Wall, which had been separating western Berlin from Eastern Berlin and the rest of the nation right since 13th August, 1961 fell today in 1989.Unfortunately for the global community, with popular consensus, a new wall has been erected.
Taking the world, media and market by storm, America has a new POTUS in Donald Trump. He is the billionaire who has been calling all through his campaign black Americans as the miscreants, the uneducated and unemployable section who stop America from being great, Mexican Immigrants as criminals, Muslims as terrorists and boasts about grabbing women “by the pussy”. But America does not care. America does not mind if half of the national population is either thinking about leaving the nation or else is prepared to live the next few years in a constant threat.  America does not care if it becomes the next Germany after it has found its new Hitler.
The Berlin Wall was erected to outcast a certain section of society who posed threat to the German Democratic Republic(GDR). It restricted the immigration of a population hit by the WWII. At that time, America stood against the GDR, making clear statements against any such divider.  Today, the world watches in delirium as USA is constructing its own ulta-conservative and  fascism, xenophobia, hatred made wall. The very American version of “The wall of Shame”. As Paul Waldmen writes, ” Eventually, his voters will figure out that it was all a scam. But by the time they do, the damage will be done”.
Ladies and Gentlemen,  welcome to the original America, which is neither blue collared, white collared nor is brown or black. It is a sick white America.

 

Image credits: The Guardian 

Nikhil Kumar

[email protected] 

 

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

When the press thinks of itself as the ‘Trump’ card: The Media coverage of US Elections

By

After the third and final presidential debate, mainstream web and print headlines covered how Senator Hillary Clinton’s debate is historic and epic, while Mr. Donald Trump apparently ‘destroyed himself’ and ‘insulted American democracy’. Ever since Trump has been elected as the nominee of the Republican Party, the media has increased attacks against him, operating as Clinton’s mouthpiece. Their bias is clear, transparent and they are not even trying to deny it.

The Quinnipiac University poll found that 55 percent of voters felt that Mr Trump was right when he charged the media of this claim, which included 20 % Democrats. Bernie Sanders, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio too had all accused the media of biased coverage during party nominations.

These claims are not baseless, as revealed by the leaked DNC emails published by WikiLeakes. The mails revealed that Politico’s Kenneth Vogel sent an advanced copy of his story to DNC national press for “approval”. Journalism to the commoners was a weapon against the powerful but here, the battle cry that is being heard is against the media and by a powerful man, when did the tables flip?

According to Harvard’s Shorenstein, “From the time he started his candidacy until the start of the conventions, Trump has not experienced anywhere near the press criticism directed at him during the final two weeks of the convention period”. The coverage, the study notes was “two to one favourable”. Had the media finally awakened to the negatives of Trump’s presidency that they ignored before?

Journalist Glenn Greenwald told Slate that “the U.S. media is essentially 100 percent united, vehemently, against Trump, and preventing him from being elected president”. Journalists approach towards Trump’s presidency is not only countering their whole movement that they think will lead to his defeat but also distancing undecided voters from the voting. The media’s rosy eyed view of Clinton’s stance on certain issues like Syria and failure to press her on the issue of NSA surveillance amongst others will go against the average citizens who rely on mainstream media for information and America which we hope, does not end up electing the unfavourable to power.

 

–Adarsh Yadav

Keep Reading
By