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Because I can't resist anything Trump... Firstly, this article correctly identifies a "profound ignorance" that Trump demonstrates on a daily basis. He is, without a doubt, an xenophobic, Islamophobic and intolerant, and lacks the self awareness to see even an ounce of that in himself. That being said, I see him and his ilk as more of a product of the political system than a growing threat. There has always been a strong percentage of people, be they American, Canadian, European (think Golden Dawn or Marine La Pen's National Front) who share his views. Trump is not even the first of his ilk in recent memory to play a prominent role in the Republican Party. Strom Thurmond, who voted against the Civil Rights Act, was a sitting US senator until 2003. Islamophobia has always been present in the states, and I believe Trump is more a product of a never-ending election cycle, a 24 news cycle with an obsession with ratings and celebrity, and a disenfranchised electorate than a new threat to American Democracy. While any reasonable American would be embarrassed with Trump, to suggest he is unique for any other reason than that people watched his reality show for 10 years seems an exaggeration. Unfortunately, there will always be people like him, ignorant of other cultures and unwilling to change. As long as reasonable people vote, they will never be more than a sideshow.

Do you ever feel like the older you get, the less you understand other people? That's how I feel about Trump.
For a man who built an empire using immigrants in his own workforce, who is completely open to building his wealth by connecting with international companies, he sure likes to spit the phrase "build a better America with Americans" a lot.
The United States, like Canada, was built on immigrants. We are all aware that our community is a wonderful mix of nationalities which make our town or city special. However, I need to address the fact that none of this matters to Trump. What matters to a successful CEO? Success, of course. He is quick to jump on bandwagons that suit the need of his extremely naive and ignorant voters that will earn him instant success. As the article states, when the San Bernardino shooters hit the news, he instantly took the fresh Islamophobic tension that spread over the U.S. and vowed to ban all Islams from entering America. As labor tensions began to spread in the South in regard to Latino immigrants, Trump quickly vowed to build a wall and 'protect' his country from illegal immigrants. Unfortunately, although his views are outrageously ogreish and downright wrong, he is very successful in his endeavors. Those "small" tensions build in the American community until there arises the question "...but what if that race 'wasn't here?' Would that solve the problem?"
Trump is always there with an answer.

Besides his horrible business strategy in regards to politics, the problems with his Islamophobia are immense. As the article I posted below suggests, shoving Islams into a box of isolation and distrust will only cause more problems. People who become shunned from their home and are racially shamed for being nothing other than themselves will cause unrest, mistrust between all races and would send America back to the days of The Red Scare. If Trump is trying to get rid of terrorism, maybe he should stop pointing fingers at individuals of any race at all. Discrimination has been the cause of so many past tragedies that you would think a presidential candidate in 2016 would simply know better.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-am-a-muslim-but-trumps-views-appall-me-because-i-am-an-american/2015/12/10/fcba9ea6-9f6d-11e5-8728-1af6af208198_story.html

Every comment made so far on this post is against Trump, and as I read them over I found myself agreeing with every one of them. If we can see through Trump's racism and bigotry, why is he such a serious contender for the upcoming presidency? I wholeheartedly agree with what Rose said about Trump "fear-mongering", but I remain hopeful that America's fear does not lead to her downfall. Furthermore, I cannot help but wonder how much of what Trump says is used to garner attention. He seems to be a strong subscriber to the "all press is good press" mentality, making me wonder if he is using racism and intolerance to place himself in the spotlight. If this is his plan, then it is working. There are currently five republican candidates competing with each other, however I doubt that many people could name any of the other four who are not Donald Trump. Yes, we do know Trump as someone who stands for hate, fear, and intolerance, however the fact remains that we do know him. He has become a household name and ever if he loses the election he will not necessarily lose the notoriety that it granted him. His fame in itself is a dangerous thing. It is the unfortunate truth that Donald Trump has a lot more influence than the average person. This leads to the question of whether or not we are falling for Trump’s ploy by talking about him, debating his ideas, even by mocking him we are simply making him more famous. So it our dismissal, our disapproval, and our disgust regarding Trump actually helping him? I hope not, but I still fin myself wondering.

Here's one of the best articles I've read so far on the Trump Phenomena.
"Donald Trump's Il Duce Routine" by Roger Cohen

A key quote:

Part of the Trump danger is that he’s captured an American irredentism, a desire to reclaim something — power, confidence, rising incomes — that many people feel is lost. Trump is a late harvest of 9/11 and the fears that took hold that day. He’s the focus of vague hopes and dim resentments that have turned him into a savior in waiting. As with Ronald Reagan, it’s not the specifics with Trump, it’s a feeling, a vibration — and no matter how much he dissembles, reveals himself as a thug, traffics in contradictions, the raptness persists.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/opinion/donald-trumps-il-duce-routine.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-3&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article&_r=0

Recently in an act of political character assassination (if there is even any character left to assassinate in Drumpf), John Oliver aired his news segment on Donald 'Drumpf.' There's been a long history of political parody shows eviscerating candidates but I can't remember any as savagely cutting. Though John Oliver raised a plethora of valid points as to why Drumpf should not be elected i.e his lack of business savvy, his rampant bigotry, his childishness, for me the most interesting segment surrounded his renaming as Donald 'Drumpf' in order to shatter the illusion of wealth and success that 'Drumpf' brings to mind. 'Drumpf' is the name of an ancestor of Drumpf, who changed it upon moving to America.
To me the irony of this is that Drumpf supporters are quick to point out the hypocrisy of this jab by the left, failing to see their hypocrisy in defending the history of an immigrant. I feel like the vast majority of American people have tried to wash their collective histories with the ol' red, white and blue. America has always been a melting pot, where the essence of your previous cultural history is boiled down in order to rebirth you as 'An All-American.' Recently beloved ex-boy band singer Nick Carter ran the "All-American Tour." The concept of the 'All-American' is one that permeates the culture of America, yet does not truly exist. It is merely an idea, of what no one is entirely sure.
So I guess my question is; where does this rampant sense of nationalism in a country composed solely of immigrants come from? Is it insecurity based? Does it speak to a need to belong to a massive marketing ploy that holds no place in reality? And when Donald Drumpf says "Make Donald Drumpf Again," to which America is he referring?

In response to emfoley13: I believe Americans, thanks to the particularly violent form of identity formation that their nation went through in its early years, have essentially attempted to "erase" their immigrant roots, in place of a new identity which is inexorably "American". I don't observe this happening here in Canada, where people by-and-large seem to understand that their heritage and their Canadian identity can coexist. As a total outsider from North American culture, I find it fascinating that two nations whose earliest European immigrant ancestors were guilty of similar crimes against the Natives (which are perpetuated to this day in many ways, such as alcoholism - free beers for any Native, according to Sherman Alexie!) can have such vastly different attitudes towards immigrants today. There is another thread on this forum called "Misinforming America", which I think has some great ideas on why such xenophobia has seeped into the American identity.

In regards to Trump, I agree with the majority of concerns raised about his rhetoric in this thread. However, I think the most important reason he should not be elected is not the fact that he's a bigot in all senses of the word. To me, it's the fact that he is brazenly presenting what can only be a well-planned character act that deliberately shifts to appease the worst of the American public - this kind of man in the White House would truly be dangerous, not because of the rigidity of his hatred, but the lack[ of said rigidity. He would conform to whatever he felt the public wanted, which in a country as politically polarised as the US, could easily be catastrophic on an international scale. From the way he's presented himself throughout this campaign, I can only describe him as a malevolent and thuggish version of Hillary Clinton, who is equally guilty of redefining herself at her own leisure in order to align with public sentiment. If a politician cannot champion their beliefs in the face of criticism, they will not have the fortitude required to face off with world leaders and enemies, no matter how loud they can shout - or how big (read: small) their hands are.

After reading the article posted on this thread, remaining optimistic about this topic, it is difficult to rationalize about the comments he is making about certain ethnic groups. targeting Muslims in the united states and labeling them and Muslims as a breed that exemplifies "extremists" and "radicalist" is un-intelligent and narrow-minded thinking. in relation to sergiobaldini post, I believe he brings up some good points on how a group has to be the perpetrators and labeled as the problem. Donald Trump is using politics and current world issues to infiltrate his campaign and increase the viability of him winning the election. Thus, his platform and what he publicizes is what the American citizens want to hear and shun out any other criticism or resolutions to solve current problems. The issue with banning Muslims from entering the united states is a bigotry plan of action on solving terrorism. I believe, this idea by Trump will lead to bigger democracy and liberal issues among the citizens. Lastly, mass-shootings within the united states have been mainly perpetrated by Caucasian males, most of the time who've been heavily armed. Therefore, the issue of islamaphobia has no place of discussing when gun control in the united states led by non-ethnic people has had more of a relevancy than terrorism led by Islam extremist groups.

I believe those that see Trump as worthy of our concern are correct. Behind his hilarious television persona lies a demagogue of the highest order. However, demagogues and their motives are not a mystery - all of history’s demagogues have sought power by playing upon the whims of the public. There has been a shift to the right globally and it has been observed by political scientists that regardless of the political party, contemporary candidates are far more conservative than their peers 30 years earlier - take a look at this video on the issue of immigration for instance:

….Bush Sr. and Reagan sound far more to the left than Trump’s ridiculous ads.
Yet, focusing on Trump obfuscates the the larger issue of the ‘whims’ at play. As we have seen in our class this year, figures like Roosevelt have played on public feelings in order to justify horrible things in their speeches by playing on whims of nationalism, racism etc ; think of Spiegalman's Maus and how it was able to show the “banality of evil) (Arendt). Benedict Anderson in Imagined Communities states that a nation an ‘imagined community” where “regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship” (Anderson 50). Trump has been able to tap the contemporary “political unconscious” (Jameson) that lurks beneath the veneer of the nation. In the 21st century, humanity in our current epoch is ridden with anxiety and frustration in the face of violence and economic precarity. Many Americans at the margins have been left out of the political system and according to Chris Hedges:

"There are tens of millions of Americans, especially lower-class whites, rightfully enraged at what has been done to them, their families and their communities. They have risen up to reject the neoliberal policies and political correctness imposed on them by college-educated elites from both political parties: Lower-class whites are embracing an American fascism”
(http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_revenge_of_the_lower_classes_and_the_rise_of_american_fascism_20160302)

Its no surprise that Islamophobia has been part of this sentiment, Islam has been used as an issue of concern not just by the lower classes; but political elites for much longer than our contemporary moment. Texts such as McAllister’s Epic Encounters, Said’s Orientalism and Covering Islam have documented a long history of how the Middle East/ Islam has been invoked as a civilizational other in the act of furthering the agenda of the state or civilizational superiority. American is no stranger to the carnage of ‘othering' as we have seen in Dubois, Toomer, Ellison Silko. What is needed more than ever is what Chomsky calls an “intellectual self defence kit” in order to curb the fire haired real estate siren’s song.