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Heightening the Trumpian Contradictions

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 02: Women are arrested downtown by police after curfew went into effect during demonstrations over George Floyd’s death on June 2, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Around 150 protest... LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 02: Women are arrested downtown by police after curfew went into effect during demonstrations over George Floyd’s death on June 2, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Around 150 protestors were arrested in the area after the emergency 6:00 p.m. curfew took effect. California Governor Gavin Newsom has deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles County to curb unrest which occurred amid some demonstrations. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was taken into custody for Floyd's death and charged with third-degree murder. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) MORE LESS

June 4, 2020 12:37 p.m.

One of the essential features of Trump and Trumpism is the way he has – both in his person and his movement ideology – managed to bring all the contradictions and controversies in our society furiously to a head. In a matter of days not weeks we have managed to skip from the intricacies of a public health crisis to racism and police violence to the state cornerstone of civilian-military relations and the rather essential question of whether the President is threatening some sort of distended military rule.

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