Donald Trump was an unlikely leader but he still formed a connection with millions of American people, generating a level of charismatic attraction that was almost without parallel. After the riots in America yesterday, it is a stark warning of the dangers of such a character gaining the levers of power.
At the heart of the story of Donald Trump is one gigantic, mysterious question: how was it possible that a character as strange and personally inadequate as Trump ever gained power in a sophisticated country, the United States of America, and was then loved by millions of people?
Trump is an archetypal "charismatic leader". He is not a "normal" politician - someone who promises policies like lower taxes and better health care - but a quasi-religious leader who offers almost spiritual goals of redemption and salvation. He has been driven forward by a sense of personal destiny.
And when Trump spoke in the endless mass rallies across the country, suddenly his weaknesses were perceived as strengths.
His prejudices chimed with the feelings of thousands of Americans who felt excluded by the Washington elite. His inability to debate, but simply to rabble rouse with simple slogans like "Make America Great Again" was taken as strength of character, and his refusal to concede he could ever wrong about anything was considered the mark of a "great man" who lived apart from the crowd.
More than anything, it was the fact that Trump found that he could make a connection with his audience that was the basis of all his future success. This kind of connection has been named by historians - "dark charisma".
Trump told millions of Americans that they were "special" and "better" people than everyone else, something that helped cement the charismatic connection between leader and led.
He does not hide his hatred, his contempt for democracy or his belief in the use of violence to further political ends from the electorate, although he backs away from public endorsement of the fires that he sets burning. But, crucially, he speaks out only against carefully defined enemies like the Chinese, immigrants, and the political left.
Since the majority of ordinary Americans were not in these groups, as long as they embraced the new world of Donald Trump, they were relatively free from persecution and his anger - at least until the political landscape started to go badly for him, and then he has turned on his allies in the Republican party.
Millions of people suddenly decided to turn to an unconventional leader they thought had "charisma" because he connected with their fears, hopes and latent desire to blame others for their predicament. And the end result has been disastrous for America.
And when Trump spoke in the endless mass rallies across the country, suddenly his weaknesses were perceived as strengths.
His prejudices chimed with the feelings of thousands of Americans who felt excluded by the Washington elite. His inability to debate, but simply to rabble rouse with simple slogans like "Make America Great Again" was taken as strength of character, and his refusal to concede he could ever wrong about anything was considered the mark of a "great man" who lived apart from the crowd.
More than anything, it was the fact that Trump found that he could make a connection with his audience that was the basis of all his future success. This kind of connection has been named by historians - "dark charisma".
Trump told millions of Americans that they were "special" and "better" people than everyone else, something that helped cement the charismatic connection between leader and led.
He does not hide his hatred, his contempt for democracy or his belief in the use of violence to further political ends from the electorate, although he backs away from public endorsement of the fires that he sets burning. But, crucially, he speaks out only against carefully defined enemies like the Chinese, immigrants, and the political left.
Since the majority of ordinary Americans were not in these groups, as long as they embraced the new world of Donald Trump, they were relatively free from persecution and his anger - at least until the political landscape started to go badly for him, and then he has turned on his allies in the Republican party.
Millions of people suddenly decided to turn to an unconventional leader they thought had "charisma" because he connected with their fears, hopes and latent desire to blame others for their predicament. And the end result has been disastrous for America.
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