It was very interesting and disturbing to have the comparisons of Donald Trump and the play Richard III by Shakespeare be so real. Throughout reading “Crooked Politics: Shakespeare’s Richard III and Leadership in 21st Century America” by Dr. Bezio I kept thinking back to the day in class when we talked about toxic charismatics. During class Trump did come to mind when thinking of examples of a toxic charismatic, but having all of Trump’s actions spelled out in front of me made me realize how he is not only is a toxic charismatic but that he also has characteristics of a tyrant. It amazes me how Trump can truly manipulate his audience to get people to like him and agree with what he is saying. I found it especially disturbing the comparison to Richard III’s cronies supporting him and praising him to Trumps staff and family, and how some of the public take the support as a cue to support him as well.
It is scary how many comparisons there are between Shakespeare’s play and what is currently occurring in US politics. Yet, I did find that there was a glimmer of hope when discussing how the way to bring Richard III down was through words, and there are opportunities to bring Trump down; weather it be in the 2020 election or through impeachment, people today have a lot more voice in politics, especially with social media. I also have hope for the women of this nation because so many women are getting more involved and have a real opportunity to enact change.
I too was amazed at the close comparisons. However, it has always been clear to me the toxicity of Trump embodies. Not only full of hate speech, but he is very narcissistic and one-sided.
I was also struck by the similarities between the two leaders. While it’s easy to get caught up in how horrifying that is, you make an important point focusing on the hope we have with our future leaders and the power of their words.
I was also stunned between the similarities of the leaders. It is scary to think about how people compare Trump to a tyrant leader. But again, as we discussed in class Trump has characteristics of a tyrant leader but is not one.