When language poisons society: Lessons from the Trump campaign

Is Trump a fascist and dangerous? That is the question Americans are debating in the final stages of the election campaign. The rhetoric – in general, and especially from Trump – is fierce. Here are a few quotes from him:

– Don't buy their crap. We should sue them.

– They [immigrants] are animals.

– Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath, for the whole – that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That’ll be the least of it.

– Do you want to see me beat people up (Trump's microphone isn't working)

– Self-absorbed cat ladies (about women who don't have children)

– Democrats are a bunch of crooks.

– Let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained to her face (about a Republican member who disagrees with Trump)

– You're a shitty president (about Kamala Harris)

Trump consistently undermines the authority of government. He talks about election fraud, even though there is no evidence to support this. He incites violence against journalists. He undermines the legal system by attacking judges. He makes false statements. He speaks about minorities in an extremely demonizing and divisive manner.

Are Democrats angels? No. Biden called Trump's voters trash. Kamala thinks Trump is a fascist. But no matter how you look at it, the Democrats' statements are nowhere near what Trump says and does.

The population of the United States has turned against each other, and mistrust, polarization, and distance are growing. This is an extremely dangerous condition for democracy.

What can we learn from this in Denmark? When we look at the US, we can see that this development did not happen overnight.

But when language becomes poisoned, it destroys relationships between people. Not immediately, but slowly. And the chronic state of mistrust is difficult to get rid of afterwards. That is why you must speak up every time you see hate speech. And remember that hate cannot be fought with hate.

I'm holding my breath and crossing my fingers that the US will choose dialogue.