Donald Trump is back in the news dining with lunatic fringe racists and neo-Nazi admirers of Adolf Hitler, even as he “prepares” to regain the presidency in 2024. He continues to claim he won in 2020.
Karl Marx wrote about wild political adventurers like Napoleon III, the British leaders who equated the sale of opium in China with civilization and progress, and those who brought about mass starvation in Ireland in the name of free trade. It is a shame that he is not around today to comment on Trump. This Marxist IQ will do that.
1. In 2016, Donald Trump lost the popular vote by nearly three million but won the presidency due to the undemocratic Electoral College. In 2020, he lost the popular vote by more than seven million. His response was
a. to claim massive “vote fraud” and launch lawsuits to decertify the election results in many states and countries.
b. to call upon governors of states to intervene to decertify the results.
c. to organize a mass demonstration and insurrection that invaded the Capitol on January 6, the day that Congress was to officially certify the election.
d. All of the above
2. After being sued by the Deutsche Bank for defaulting in 2008 on a $40 million installment of a loan to build the Trump tower in Chicago, Trump
a. paid off the loan.
b. claimed the default was an “act of God” and countersued the bank for the stock market crash.
c. declared bankruptcy.
d. announced his candidacy for President of Deutsche Bank.
3. People throughout the world saw in Trump’s presidency the revival of fascism. Which of the following examples of fascism was seen in the Trump administration?
a. A personality cult based on the glorification of a supreme leader who must be followed and obeyed blindly
b. A cult of violence calling for the use of force by individuals, the military and the police against minorities, political opponents and foreign powers
c. The support of powerful corporate interests connected to Big Oil, armaments manufacturers and finance capital the way Hitler’s Nazis had support from steel, auto, and armaments manufacturers and German finance capital
d. All of the above
4. As Karl Marx contended in the late 19th century, until we have a mass working class political party contesting elections and fighting for socialism, we will see capitalist elections continue to operate in the following way:
a. They will be the basis of freedom
b. They will be hopelessly corrupt
c. Every few years they will give the working class votes to decide which representative of the ruling class will govern them for the next few years
d. They will make the working class stakeholders in society
5. In the aftermath of the failed January 6 coup to keep Trump in power and the Republican Party’s failure to retake both houses of Congress, the fascist threat
a. no longer exists in American politics.
b. exists only through the activities of Trump and his active supporters.
c. must be exposed and fought by the working class and all peoples organizations if it is to be defeated.
d. is already triumphant through both parties.
Answers here.