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But Trump’s instincts did not arise in a vacuum. Like all Americans, he inherited a tradition that conveys the norms that have enabled us to flourish. A lifetime as an entrepreneur taught him more about economics—and about the threat posed by an intrusive regulatory state—than is known by a fashionable socialist such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, despite the pride she takes in her economics degree. He has lived in New York City at times of comfort and times of rampant crime, and he understands the importance of preventing violence, whether from Latin American drug cartels or radical Muslim terrorists. Most Americans understand that it is those profoundly decent impulses, not xenophobia, that inspire his sometimes harsh-sounding rhetoric about the need to protect our borders and crack down on real threats. He understands the failings of the media because he was a media star. He understands the evil nature of some CEOs because he went to Wharton and has rubbed elbows with those people ever since. The scariest thing about him to the elite is that he has been inside with them, and he’s exposing their secrets to the outside.
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