there’s a temptation to say that Trump’s corruption and friendly deals with corporate lobbyists is hypocritical in light of his promise to “drain the swamp,” which I’ve come to think is an overly generous reading of what he means by “swamp.”
“the swamp” is not rich white guys in suits who can buy their favored policies. “The swamp” is Medicaid, DACA and environmental justice.
“the swamp” isn’t the powerful wealthy, it’s the people who in Trump’s eyes don’t ~deserve~ access to good things
“drain the swamp” never meant “deny corporate lobbyists more power than the rest of us.” It means “use the state to reward the right people and savage the others.”
when Scott Pruitt puts lives at risk by rolling back air quality enforcement, Trump sees that as “draining the swamp” because the government is no longer unfairly preventing companies from pushing the cost of pollution into neighborhoods of color.
when Mulvaney rolls back the rules that keep banks from robbing black homeowners, that to Trump is “draining the swamp” because it’s letting the economy work the way he thinks it should instead of under “politically correct” restraints.
when people fleeing persecution in “shithole” countries find a home in America, and the government has a policy of welcoming them, that’s the swamp Trump is furious about.
in many ways Trump, shrewdly, is a Rorschach test: he describes things vaguely enough that you can read it however you want. But you cannot separate Trump’s actual definitions from the fact that he’s a bully and a racist.
you can never go wrong assuming the worst interpretation of his rhetoric.
