Donald Trump began his state visit to Britain in typical fashion, describing the Duchess of Sussex as “nasty” before he even arrived in London. He then used a spare moment on Air Force One to expectorate some thoughts about London mayor Sadiq Khan. “He is a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me,” he tweeted.
Future historians will argue for decades about whether Trump’s wild, bullying statements are strategic or instinctive. Either way, he has perfected a political register for leadership in the smartphone era, where we don’t so much read the news as rubber-neck at it from the tiny windows to the world we carry in our pockets and hands. The gorier the better: we’ll slow down a little for a gratuitous insult, but what makes us slam on the brakes and gawp is something that traduces a particular identity group.
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