Journalist McKay Coppins recently shared his concerns over what he believes may be President-elect Donald Trump’s “most insidious legacy.” In an article for The Atlantic, Coppins explored the impact of Trump’s influence on American political culture, arguing that Trump’s rhetoric and behavior have severely desensitized Americans to levels of violent and dehumanizing language never before accepted on such a scale in politics.
To illustrate his point, Coppins highlighted some of Trump’s most controversial statements from the final two months of his 2024 campaign, which included unsubstantiated claims that Haitian immigrants were eating pets, remarks suggesting Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) should face rifles pointed at her, and even an incident where Trump engaged in an inappropriate gesture with a microphone, shocking many with its crudeness.
“What you’re experiencing is the product of Trump’s clearest political accomplishment, and perhaps his most enduring legacy: In his near decade as America’s main character, he has thoroughly desensitized voters to behavior that, in another era, they would have deemed disqualifying in a president,” Coppins wrote. “The national bar for outrage keeps rising; the ability to be shocked has dwindled.”
Coppins further argues that this shift toward normalization of extreme rhetoric may be a uniquely Trump-driven phenomenon. To support this, he pointed out that while North Carolina voters selected Trump, they also rejected Mark Robinson, a candidate for governor who had described himself as a “Black NAZI” on a pornography website forum several years ago.
The journalist saw this as an indication that, for many Americans, Trump alone can break these boundaries with few consequences. However, according to Coppins, the legacy of this normalization could be damaging for years to come, impacting the country’s entire political landscape. He warned that, “Every time he crosses a new line, he makes it that much easier for the next guy to do so.”
Coppins argued that, as a result, many Americans have now come to see expecting moral integrity in political leaders as outdated or naive. This shift, he claims, only serves to empower Trump and his imitators, who may increasingly feel emboldened to act with “impunity” as public expectations for leadership behavior continue to erode.
“Nearly a decade into the Trump era, too many Americans have internalized the idea that expecting our political leaders to be good people is quaint and foolish. But this savvier-than-thou attitude only empowers Trump and his mimics,” Coppins concluded. The article points to Trump’s 2024 win as a potential turning point, raising questions about the future standards for American political discourse.
