If the Revolutionary People’s Army troops had defeated the government and taken control of the capital, their leader would have made a speech very similar to the one the whole world heard from Donald Trump. He is not pretending continuity. He does not claim to be ‘president of all’ and he does not use the phrases we expect from solid politicians. He has come to break the power structure and he has come to change conditions across the United States. It’s heady stuff that makes your head spin. Down with tyranny! A time of freedom and prosperity is coming.
So I think I’ll find Mao Tse Tung’s first speech and Fidel Castro’s first speech. If they sound similar. Of course, they were different revolutions of different social classes with different goals. But the revolutionary fervor unites them. And the experience of a clear break between the existing system and the new one we are bringing.
Make no mistake. I clearly share that feeling. After all, in 2016 I gave a speech at what was probably the first European demonstration in support of Donald Trump. But it is only now that the Trump we – the enemies of the regime – welcomed in 2016 is coming. We wanted a revolution, and we got it.
It’s just good to remember that every wave like this is followed by sobering and that expectations are set so high that the real Donald Trump can’t live up to them, no matter how good he is. Moreover, those expectations vary widely and sometimes even contradict each other.
But today we can rejoice. A day of revolutionary victory.