Brexit, Donald Trump and the Rise of Nonsense

by Errington C. Thompson, MD –

So, Britain decides to leave the European Union.

As many experts predicted, this did cause financial turmoil. In the short term it looks like the experts were right. The British pound has plummeted against the dollar and other world currencies.

Before Britain joined the European Union it did approximately a third of its trade with Europe; since joining the EU, that’s up to approximately half its trade. After Brexit, it is unclear exactly how much trade will be done with Europe, since Britain will need to renegotiate all its trade agreements with the European Union. I suspect that this negotiation will not be as favorable as Britain would like: as German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned, Britain cannot expect to “keep the privileges” of ties with the EU without any of the obligations.

Being part of the European Union had both positive and negative impacts on Britain. For the most part, it appeared to me as if the trade deal benefited the United Kingdom more than it hurt. Some sectors of the economy were weakened, others strengthened, but overall the single market, freedom of travel and career relocation, and unfettered commerce benefited the nation as a whole.

Today, commerce and trade are truly global. Thailand, China, Japan, Malaysia, Iceland, Scotland, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, and Australia are just a few of the countries involved in global trade. If you are part of a larger group, in which you have free trade within the group and the group can negotiate better trade deals in the larger global community, you should come out, for the most part, better off.

With Britain and the European Union trying to figure out a path forward from the Brexit vote, Donald Trump stepped into the mix—and promptly stepped in it. In Scotland to promote the reopening of his luxury golf course, Turnberry (managed by his son Eric), the presumptive Republican presidential nominee decided to take some time off of the campaign trail to promote his family business.

This says a lot about Donald Trump. His fundraising numbers were abysmal, but he decided going to Scotland on behalf of his personal finances was more important. His campaign is again in turmoil, since he just fired his campaign manager, but he left that problem to others. Many critics, including myself, believe that Donald Trump’s grasp of a lot of policy details, and even basic facts about governing, are somewhat lacking. Yet promoting his property has taken priority over all of these things.

While in Scotland Donald Trump was asked about Brexit. Let us skip over the fact that he seemed to have no idea what Brexit was. When asked about the vote he said, “I think is a great thing that it happened. People are angry, all over the world. People, they’re angry.” Asked how the decision to leave Europe would impact business and trade he said, “When the pound goes down, more people are coming to Turnberry…”

Finally, he said, “People want to take their country back and have independence. You are going to have many other cases where they want to take their borders back. They want to take their monetary back. They want to take other things back. They want to be able to have a country again.”

Let us take our time and dissect this. Is Trump suggesting that Britons were extremely angry over the European Union? Apparently he was, though of course he didn’t offer any evidence of that. I am not sure how you relate this to people all over the world. It does not seem to make sense.

Trump’s next statement does make sense, at least in the context of who he is. He expresses the certainty that Brexit will cause the British pound, which to his mind means more Americans and others can then come to his golf course because it will be more affordable. To Trump, the primary importance of Brexit is how it will benefit him and his family enterprise. Really?

Whether you are Republican or Democrat or an independent, no one can look at this man and imagine that he has America’s interest at heart. From everything he has ever said and done, including his take on Brexit, he has always had only his own best interests at heart.

Finally, Donald Trump’s last statement about taking their country back was simply nonsense. Great Britain has always been an independent country. Being part of the European Union did not make them any less independent, any more than Trump’s long track record of disparaging President Obama has made America less great than before.

I am not sure exactly when it started, but I do know that the art of spouting nonsense and making it seem plausible to a large swath of the electorate was perfected by former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin. She has the ability to put sentences together that make absolutely no sense—what many commentators call a “word salad.”

As long as you don’t pay attention, it is possible for you to nod in agreement with Ms. Palin. She has the right inflection. She seems to be saying things with conviction, though when you listen carefully, it is almost gibberish. Donald Trump is not spouting gibberish. Instead, he is spouting nonsense—whether he is going to build “that wall and have Mexico pay for it” or asserting that all Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals or that Brexit was about Great Britain’s independence.

So, I have a question for my Republican brothers and sisters, is this really the best candidate you have? Where is Jeb! when you need him? Sure, I disagreed with him, but at least he made sense.