Will the hero triumph or a horror story unfold?

If people around the world are beginning to lose faith in the democracy experiment that many countries have been seeking to perfect, who can blame them?

Most in the western world are still trying to come to grips with what is unfolding in the United States of America. Though the US is far from perfect, it is among the better models of democratic practices, at least it used to be.

For the Gen Xers, Millennials and Gen Zs, all of whom were born after 1965, the emergence of Donald Trump on the scene in 2016 on the American political landscape has upended their perception of political orthodoxy.

There is an acceptance that Americans are enamoured with their Hollywood stars and television personalities. So, it was not surprising that Trump would copy the roadmap created by others like former president Ronald Reagan and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has capitalised on the global fame he garnered from his hit reality show The Apprentice and his cameo appearance in Home Alone 2.

It is clear that Trump revelled in the power, influence and fame that came with being President of the United States. Once he got a taste of that power, it became clear that he wanted more, even if he was rightly rejected by the American electorate after one term.

Admittedly, the former American President has strident supporters at home and abroad. His style in the Oval Office was brash, bullish and obnoxious in most cases.

He was frequently offensive to many American citizens and his unpredictable behaviour and antics mesmerised people around the world.

It was not uncommon for Barbadians, for example, to turn on their televisions in the morning just to find out what outrageous thing was said or done by the US president. His presidency literally became a daily reality show.

From his derogatory descriptions of people from African and Caribbean countries, to suggesting to people they should inject themselves with bleach to combat COVID-19 infections, to literally pushing the Prime Minister of Montenegro out of the way to be the focus of television cameras during a meeting of NATO in Belgium.

His most infamous acts, though, came in January 2021 as he was expected to leave office after losing the presidential election. After failing to bully and coerce the leadership of certain key states to find him votes he never received during the presidential election, he set his followers on the Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power.

From there, it has all cascaded but not into anything pleasant for American citizens. There have been criminal charges and 34 felony convictions. There has been drama in the courts, all the way up to the US Supreme Court as his legal team argued that he should not face legal consequences for anything he did while in the Oval Office or after he left office.

The problem for all who watch on in utter fear and trepidation of what another Trump presidency could mean, is that this is not entertainment. This is not a television show. This is reality.

Trump has built a platform that promotes fascist ideals, diminishing the role of women and decimating their right to bodily autonomy, revenge against those who tried to put a check on his authoritarian and dictatorial tendencies, and those who tried to hold him accountable for his criminal acts.

Trump has named names; he is going after his perceived enemies if he wins, even if they were simply doing their jobs.

The latest drama, which many conspiracists argued, was perfectly timed for the Republican Convention, and the pictures emerging from his assassination attempt make the most influential campaign images of a triumphant candidate who is divinely ordained to lead.

All this is happening as Democratic supporters stumble over themselves trying to determine if they want to throw their support behind a decent man, but one whose fatal flaw is his age.

The US presidential election is less than four months away and the eyes of the world will be glued to the campaign, trying to determine if they are watching the traditional film where the hero beats the odds and overcomes all challengers or a horror story from which we cannot escape.