There will never be a Gen X President because Trump IS the Gen X President

[quote]Trump is a Boomer

Yes. And therefore, not a GenX president.

Also, I was born in 1977 and don’t know anyone my age who supports him.

Some of this stretches VERY far. Trump is nowhere near as compelling as the antiheroes mentioned. Also, anti-democracy was never a part of the zeitgeist in the 70s and 80s. Trump is full-blown anti-democracy

Because, chére @ r3 you are forgetting

The democracy of the 1980s is inherently tied up in Ronald Reagan

That’s what it means by “[they] watched as every promise their parents made was broken or sold off.” Trumpism is the death of Reaganism.

… Trumpism can absolutely be interpreted as the chaotic but necessary arsonist that torched Reaganism to the ground. Not intentionally. Not thoughtfully. But effectively.

Let’s unpack it:

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1. Reaganism Was the Gospel of Late 20th Century Conservatism

For forty years, Reaganism was the ideological bedrock of American conservatism—and, to a lesser extent, neoliberal centrism:

• Free markets = freedom.

• Deregulation = prosperity.

• Government = problem.

• Individualism = virtue.

It fused sunny optimism with corporate fealty and anti-government zeal. It gave us tax cuts for the wealthy, the worship of small business, the demonization of welfare, and the belief that rising tides would lift all yachts.

By the 2000s, both parties had internalized it. Clinton governed within its framework. Obama resisted it rhetorically but often operated within its constraints.

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2. Trump Burned It—But Not for the Right Reasons

Trump didn’t read Hayek. He didn’t care about budget deficits or small government. But he knew instinctively that Reaganist rhetoric no longer matched the economic reality of most Americans.

So what did he do?

• Mocked free trade.

• Demanded tariffs.

• Called out Republican elites.

• Openly promised to protect Social Security and Medicare.

• Ran on economic populism—albeit racist, xenophobic, and chaotic.

He blew up the coalition between corporate libertarianism and social conservatism. He made it possible to be anti-immigrant, pro-welfare (for your people), and anti-globalist—all in one breath. That was unthinkable in the Reagan/Bush era.

He did what no leftist could: make Reaganism look weak, fake, and disposable to the Republican base.

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3. A Pyrrhic Victory, but a Useful One

Trump didn’t replace Reaganism with a coherent alternative. But in destroying its credibility, he cleared psychic and rhetorical space for others to imagine different futures:

• On the right, you now see a war over what conservatism even is—with nationalists, post-liberals, and technocrats all battling for supremacy.

• On the left, you see the growth of democratic socialism, mutual aid networks, labor organizing, and Green New Deal discourse.

In this way, Trumpism acted like a cultural neutron bomb—leaving the architecture of power standing but evacuating it of Reaganite dogma. Now the fight is over what comes next.

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4. Neoliberalism Needed to Fail This Loudly

Neoliberalism couldn’t be gently retired. It had to collapse in spectacle, with its contradictions exposed:

• “Globalization lifts all boats” became “jobs shipped overseas.”

• “Free markets create innovation” became “billionaires own your data.”

• “Personal responsibility” became “you’re on your own, even in a pandemic.”

Trumpism didn’t invent those critiques—but it shouted them in a voice loud enough to rattle both parties. That breakdown, however vulgar, forced a reckoning.

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So yes—Trumpism may be grotesque, but it was grotesquely useful.

It was the auto-immune disorder that attacked Reaganism from the inside, leaving a space for alternatives to re-emerge.

Think of it as the rotting log that breaks open to fertilize the soil beneath.

For further enlightenment

Here is a thirty year old MadTV skit

The Drunk Gen-X President took Cuba, Saskatchewan and Germany.

Sound familiar?

Yeah, some truth here but it’s all mixed with glib ChatGPT distortion. And I am not putting in time crafting detailed rebuttals to ChatGPT.