Donald Trump's Rise Is a Scary Moment in America
1 Video View·Oct 17, 2026
We are so busy laughing at Trump that we’ve lost sight of how dangerous he is. Vox's editor-in-chief Ezra Klein explains.
Trump is in serious contention to win the Republican presidential nomination. His triumph in a general election is unlikely, but it is far from impossible. He's not a joke and he's not a clown. He's a man who could soon be making decisions of war and peace, who would decide which regulations are enforced and which are lifted, who would be responsible for nominating Supreme Court justices and representing America in the community of nations. This is not political entertainment. This is politics.
Donald Trump - you have to admit it - is fun to watch. "Is this a Donald Trump reality
show with nine supporting actors?" TRUMP: "We look fantastic." "Donald Trump turns this
from a circus into a full-fledged reality show." TRUMP: "And I mean really fantastic."
And he's putting on the greatest show in a presidential election by far. He's red-faced,
he's angry, he's funny, he's strange, he's unpredictable, he's real in that way that
only reality television stars are real. Larry David: "Trump's a racist!" He's so fun to watch that it's
easy to lose sight of how terrifying his rise really is. But Donald Trump is the most dangerous
major presidential candidate in memory. Trump is a serious contender to win the Republican
presidential nomination. If he wins the presidential nomination, he may win the general election.
He's a man who could be deciding who the next Supreme Court nomination is, be making decisions
of war and piece, could be deciding which regulations to enforce and which to let go
of. Presidents represent America on trade negotiations, they represent us before the
community of nations. This is not political entertainment. It's not entertainment at all.
It's real, live politics. Trump's rise has been scary and it's been extreme. He rose
to prominence in the Republican party as the leader of the birther movement. TRUMP: "I
was just informed on the helicopter that our president has finally released a birth certificate.
I wanna look at it, but I hope it's true." He climbed to the top of the polls in this
election by calling Mexicans rapists and killers. TRUMP: "They're bringing drugs, they're bringing
crime, they're bringing rapists." He defended a poor debate performance by accusing Megyn
Kelly of being on her period. TRUMP: "You could see that there was blood coming out
of her eyes, blood coming out of her...wherever." He responded to rival Ted Cruz's surge by
calling for a travel ban on all Muslims. TRUMP: "Total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering
the United States." When MSNBC's Joe Scarborough asked Trump about his affection for Vladimir
Putin. SCARBOROUGH: "This is a person who kills journalists, political opponents, and
invades countries." Trump replied, "he's running his country and at least he's a leader unlike
what we have in this country." Trump later had to clarify, "by the way I hate some of
these people, but I'd never kill them." That is usually not something that in American
politics presidential candidates need to clarify. TRUMP: "Ehhh, no, I wouldn't." Trump's view
of the economy is entirely zero-sum. This is what's behind his arguments on immigration.
This is what's behind his arguments on immigration. He thinks that for Americans to win, others
must lose. TRUMP: "They beat us all the time." The day before Trump won in New Hampshire,
he had a rally in Manchester. And at that rally, he heard a woman in the crowd call
Ted Cruz a pussy. TRUMP: "She just said a terrible thing." And Trump, rather than ignore
it or move on from it, he went to the woman and he said, "say what you said again." TRUMP:
"Shout it out, because I don't wanna--" and eventually, he spoke it. TRUMP: "She said
he's a pussy. That's terrible. Terrible!" And the media, we jumped all over it. It's
traffic, it's clicks, it's takes, it's fun, it's funny, it's interesting. What was so
unnerving about this wasn't that Trump used a vulgar word. It was the demagogue's instinct
for finding the angriest voice in the mob and amplifying it. Trump is a racist, and
he's a sexist, and a he's a demagogue. But he's also a narcissist, and a bully, TRUMP:
"You're a tough guy, Jeb.", and a dilettante. Trump has just a complete lack of shame. Most
people feel shame when they're exposed as liars or when they're seen as uninformed and
cruel. Or when their political elders think that what they're doing is wrong or dumb.
It's one way we keep politicians in check. We exploit their sense of shame. But Trump
doesn't seem to have that. COLBERT: "Is there anybody you'd like to apologize to yourself?"
TRUMP: "No." COLBERT: "No?" He's got that reality television star's talent for not caring
what he seems like on-camera. "I'm not here to make friends." "I'm not here to make friends."
"We're not looking to make new friends." The rest of us, we're all worried about making
friends. We want to be seen as polite, and gentle and kind. Trump doesn't care about
that. And it's the reason he's fun to watch, it's the reason that he's succeeding in the
primary. But it's also why he's dangerous. The fact that he'll do things that others
wont means that he'll do things that, until now in American politics, we've been protected
from. But if Trump wins we won't be protected from it. And so today's a day to repeat: There
is something dangerous in Trump's rise. It isn't funny, we need to stop laughing. It's
something we should fear.