Politics

This Viral Message About Donald Trump's Massive Victory Is Worth Your Attention

April 27th 2016

Robert Reich, a professor and American political commentator, who served as the Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton, just responded to Republican front-runner Donald Trump's primary sweep in a provocative viral Facebook post.

In his post, Reich recounted speaking to both a former Republican congressmen and a supporter of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday. He described them as befuddled by the success of Republican front-runner Donald Trump and the momentum behind Clinton's rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, respectively.

"Neither of the people I spoke with 'get' the biggest single force in the 2016 election: a furious revolt against the political establishment," Reich wrote.

Reich addressed the simultaneous crises facing the Republican and Democratic parties, and stated that the outpourings of support for both candidates were indicative of radical populism and a rejection of the political elite.

"Both should be wake-up calls for America’s two major political parties and the corporate and financial elites that have sponsored them for decades," Reich wrote on Facebook. "Unless or until the establishment responds to the growing frustrations of a shrinking and increasingly insecure middle class, the populist revolt – its reformist zeal on one side, and its hatefulness on the other – will only intensify in coming years."

Reich believes that Sanders and Trump supporters reflected "the positive and negative sides of the same coin." As he pointed out, both candidates have drawn support from disillusioned voters who feel sick and tired of business and usual, and have distanced themselves from their parties' establishments. "The revolt has taken two very different forms – progressive populism (Bernie's 'political revolution') and authoritarian populism (Donald Trump’s bloviated bigotry)," he wrote.

Trump and Sanders supporters are responding to a "rigged" political system.

As Reich pointed out, while Trump and Sanders may seem to have risen "out of nowhere," this isn't the case. Both candidates have tapped into the indignation of a large populist body that feels that the political system no longer serves or represents ordinary Americans.

Sanders has captivated a base of Millennial voters who are outraged by issues like income inequality and student debt. Trump has managed to mobilize a group of largely white, less educated voters who are repelled by the political system and eager to throw their support to a straight-talking outsider who "tells it like it is."

Both groups have also accused their respective parties of robbing their candidates — Sanders fans have trumpeted the message that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her alleged media affiliates have attempted to sweep Sanders' under the rug.

Despite recent attempts to make nice with party leadership and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, Trump has slammed the Republican party and its leadership incessantly throughout his campaign and cashed in on his outsider status. He has also been more than a tad critical of the media.

Trump and Sanders have strategically painted themselves as populist forces that cannot be controlled by the establishment — and, with Trump taking Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maryland on Tuesday, and Sanders refusing to bow out despite Clinton supporters' frustration about an increasingly divided party — it's working.

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