Academics have labelled Donald Trump’s explosive press conference in New York as an “authentic” return to the “genuine Trump”.
In a long and combative conference at his beloved Trump Tower, the president backtracked from his comments denouncing white nationalists at the centre of the deadly protests in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Blaming “both sides” and calling the anti-nationalist protesters the "alt-left", he doubled down on his initial response to the weekend’s violence.
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On Tuesday he was pressured by his administration to explicitly denounce far right-wing groups, including neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.
But within 24 hours he shifted opinion for a third time, saying there were “good people” marching against the removal of a confederate statue in Charlottesvile.
“Yeah, this is genuine Donald Trump,” explains academic director of the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, Dr David Smith.
“The remarks that he made denouncing racists and neo-Nazis and the Ku-Klux Klan were very scripted. He gave those comments under duress."
One woman was killed and 19 injured when Alt Right marchers clashed with counter-protesters in Charlottesville. Two officers also died in a chopper crash. (AAP) Source: AAP
The ‘real enemy’
“This was the real Donald Trump, and this is the Donald Trump who sees the people protesting against the white nationalists as his real enemy,” Dr Smith told SBS World News.
“It’s very clear that he might be indifferent to white nationalists, but he does not see them as the enemy.
Associate Professor in American Politics at the University of Melbourne, Timothy Lynch, agrees.
“It could be something not much more complicated than this is what he really feels and thinks. Part of his continuing appeal is that he is authentic,” Professor Lynch said.
“We spend a lot of time indicting and condemning President Trump for being kind of inconsistent and hiring and firing staff, (but) when you actually analyse his core convictions they’re reasonably consistent.
“When he was given the opportunity to actually vent at this extraordinary press conference, he reverted to type.”
Trump 'venting’
“When you say ‘vent,’ it’s almost his default position,” Professor Lynch mused.
“(Trump’s) always in this state of agitation about his treatment in the media, and he construed his treatment and the treatment of some of his supporters in Charlottesville in the same way."
“No other politician in America would actually go that far in defence of what happened in Charlottesville. So this is genuine Trump,” added Dr Smith.
“This is just Trump completely unmoored from any kind of considerations of political decorum or decency.”
The far-right
A long-time supporter of Donald Trump has been former KKK leader, David Duke. Mr Duke has already praised the president for his latest comments.
Professor Lynch believes the inherent dangers of not denouncing such supporters seem to be lost on President Trump.
“I don’t think he really has a very clear understanding of who David Duke is. I don’t think he really understands the implications of being seen as promoting their causes. He promotes Donald Trump,” Professor Lynch said.
Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke has been a vocal supporter of US President Trump. (AAP) Source: AAP
“(Trump) has a really simple view of the world, but so do most of the people voting for him. There’s no ulterior motive or purpose, he just doesn’t think very deeply about the world. And his supporters rather like that.”
“I think that the far-right will feel very emboldened by Trump,” said Dr Smith.
“I think Trump recognises that, among his supporters, that they are just so upset about political correctness. They see political correctness everywhere. And I mean he really rode to the Republican nomination on the back of saying ‘I will be politically incorrect’.
“He is definitely appealing to his base here. In the end, the only people he cares about are the people who support and flatter him unconditionally, and at the moment that is white nationalists.”
