“I'm Afraid of a Trump Win”

An interview with WDR German public broadcasting's editor in chief Sonia Mikich, published in Tagesschau.

Clinton vs. Trump: Reason against the emotion, worldliness against paranoia. What's going on in the US?

Siri Hustvedt: That's really hard to say. There have always been right forces in the US. The Republicans always had racist messages, but they were transported more subtly - to their party friends, to voters, or to those who wanted to win them for themselves. You may remember Ronald Reagan. He made a number of such statements in his election campaign, for example about the so-called "welfare queens", the "social schmarotters". These were clearly racist utterances. He needed these voices and so he got them. The Republicans have been playing a very dangerous game for a long time. I think this party is, to a certain extent, splitting. And Donald Trump stands in a way for the base of the party, which is now exploding.
Read the rest of the interview.