Is the election of Trump a Revolution?

The definition of revolution is up for debate. Political scientists usually define a revolution as a civil war which encompasses most of the nation state which leads to radical changes usually for the better. The election of Donald Trump marks a suspension to the revolution Rousseau sought to address. Trump’s lack of sensitivity and overt discrimination of other backgrounds are clear signs of a “revolution.” (I put revolution in quotes since revolution often has a positive connotation). Trump was able to gain support from whites in rural areas through praying on their fears. Trump presented himself as fighting the political elite. His policy of “draining the swamp” has ties to Robespierre’s words of “government forgets the people’s interests or if it fails back into the hands of the corrupt men…”. The election of Trump is not a revolution using the ideation of the Third Estate. The Third Estate argued for ethnic diversity and forgone based on privilege. The only privilege Trump sought to rectify was that of the political class. This is inherently a populist argument which tends to transcend the progressive/conservative divide. Trump isn’t a revolution in the sense of rectifying diversity issue. Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail and since his policies have sought to reinforce white privilege. Trump’s policies vastly diverge from the definition of revolution Robespierre presented “but when the people itself is corrupted, liberty is already lost” (4). Political scientists disagree whether Trump’s announcement of his presidency brought life to the alt-right or whether his rhetoric was the birth of it. Trump’s disgraceful travel ban on predominately Muslim countries is a violation of the 1^st amendment. The founding fathers sought to express a land free from religion and put it in the first amendment. Trump’s policy proposal of the re-implementation of torture is a violation of the 8^th amendment cruel and unusual punishment.