Noam Chomsky, one of the most incisive minds of our era, delivers a blistering indictment not just of Donald Trump, but of the decaying systems that enabled his rise.
In a searing 27-minute speech, Chomsky dismantles the illusion that Trump was an aberration—instead, he was the inevitable product of a nation that traded justice for greed, truth for spectacle, and democracy for oligarchy.
“The individual who occupied the highest office in the United States from 2017 to 2021 is not an anomaly,” Chomsky declares. “He is not a fluke, not an accident of democracy. He is a symptom—the logical conclusion of decades of erosion of public trust, institutional integrity, economic justice, and moral responsibility.”
Trump, Chomsky argues, was never a leader but a predator—a “merchant of grievance” who weaponized fear, racism, and despair.
“He did not invent these tools,” Chomsky warns. “He merely exploited them with an audacity rarely seen in democratic society.” And millions allowed it—not because they were deceived, but because they “preferred comfort over conscience, silence over resistance.”
The myth that Trump “gave voice to the voiceless” is exposed as a fraud. “He told people what they wanted to hear,” Chomsky says. “He validated ignorance, racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and despair—wrapped them in the flag, sanctified them with nationalism, and sold them as patriotism.”
Here in New Jersey, the symptoms are undeniable.
Once-thriving manufacturing towns like Paterson and Camden still bear the scars of deindustrialization, while hedge fund billionaires in Short Hills and Alpine hoard wealth extracted from working families.
Our political machines—long dominated by backroom deals and corporate donors—mirror the national rot.
Chomsky’s analysis cuts deeper: “For over 40 years, economic policies favored the wealthy at the expense of the working class. Wages stagnated while executive pay soared. Factories closed while financial markets boomed.”
Sound familiar? From the shuttered factories of Trenton to the luxury condos rising along the Hudson, the divide is stark.
Just as national media traded truth for clicks, New Jersey’s own news deserts—where local journalism has been gutted—left voters vulnerable to disinformation. “Outrage became a business model,” Chomsky observes. “He didn’t corrupt the media—he revealed how corruptible it had already become.”
This is not just a critique—it’s a roadmap for resistance.
Chomsky urges a moral and structural renewal: universal healthcare, labor rights, participatory democracy, and a media that serves the public, not profits.
“The power to shape this nation lies where it always has—in our hands, in our neighborhoods, in our choices,” said the 96 year-old professor.
For New Jerseyans, the path forward is clear: organize, demand accountability, and reject the politics of division.
The rot runs deep—but the cure begins with us.