Mr. Kornblum, you are currently in Nashville, Tennessee. How is the situation with you?
The protest has also come to us. We have demonstrations, there have also been looting and arson. The Court House, a historic building, was once set on fire. It's not as bad as in other cities, but maybe that's because of the curfew that was imposed.
What goes through your head when you see the nationwide protests?
I am a member of the older generation. For me it's a déjà vu. We have experienced this very often. I was in college during the civil rights movement. Incidentally, it started in Nashville, where the first sit-ins were launched in the early 1960s to demonstrate racial segregation in downtown snacks.
Nashville is a very liberal city, though in the south. On April 4, 1968, when the unrest started after Martin Luther King's murder, I lived in Foggy Bottom, Washington. In other words: America is like a tightrope act without a network - always on the verge of collapse. And that for 200 years.
So far, it has apparently mostly turned out lightly ...
So far, yes. But there were bad phases. For example, if we hadn't had Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s, it would not have turned out well. It would have ended in disaster. The problem is that America's strengths are its weaknesses. We are dynamic, success-oriented, we move quickly, and we do not create the social stabilizers that exist in Europe, which we sometimes criticize as too stable and thus as crippling. The importance of such structures in times of crisis is particularly evident in the corona epidemic.
What are the current consequences?
Serious. Our health system is falling apart, as is our unemployment benefit system and our sense of social cohesion. The bad thing is that all of this is now happening at a time when we don't have a leader like Roosevelt. There is no one who appeals to the best in us.
In the current crisis after George Floyd's death, many Americans are especially waiting for words, for an offer of conversation from the White House. But only police officers and soldiers can be seen.
The problem is: Donald Trump would only make it worse with a speech. This president just can't speak. He can't say three sentences in a row, and when he reads something, his emotions usually go through with him and then something bad comes out.
Everything he has given in this crisis has only done harm. So the country organizes itself around it, the states take over. That doesn't have to be a bad thing, the states are also very powerful - but the system is currently being tested in a dangerous way.
In what way?
In the middle of a gigantic crisis, we lack national leadership. The economy is in dire straits, and now the old wounds of racism, America's original sin - in the middle of the corona crisis, are also breaking open.
Some people seem to feel that Donald Trump has quasi-magical powers that can even survive a triple crisis like this without prejudice. What do you say to them?
Well, Joe Biden is just ten percent ahead in polls. There is a way to beat Trump. He has no magical powers, but he is a gifted simplifier and polarizer. He came on the political stage when the Democrats and traditional Republicans didn't understand how deeply divided society was.
Not only between blacks and whites, but also between town and country. Trump has managed to motivate the 30 percent mostly white voters who feel left behind, the alleged “silent majority”. And because of the election laws in the US, that was enough, he hadn't won the majority of votes.
If you take that away from him by addressing the issues that are important to these people, it looks bad for him. He will not convince the other 70 percent with his current demeanor.
Trump has proclaimed himself the “law and order” president, who will forcefully restore security in the country. Could he even benefit from the current crisis?
That may be, the situation is so volatile that all predictions are idle. But: Trump is actually at a loss. He has only two answers on offer: he is pushing to revive the economy, and wants to restore law and order. The economy is unlikely to recover quickly enough, however, while the anger of some white people will still be there.
And with his confrontational behavior, he now risks that blacks and other minorities actually go voting - which they didn't do enough in 2016.
Some are already worried that he won't accept defeat in the end.
He is already attacking the idea of voting by postal mail, claiming that this could encourage fraud. Trump will increasingly talk about the 2020 election being “stolen”. There is great concern that he could go so far as to trigger a crisis so as not to have to accept defeat. I personally believe that he is capable of anything.
But would he get away with it? Aren't the institutions strong enough to prevent this?
Our institutions have never had to deal with this. Remember: we do not have a single voting law, we have 50 voting laws. The states are independent, especially when it comes to elections. And then there is also Russia.
