Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics

by Lawrence O'Donnell

When Tom Turnipseed watched Donald Trump campaign for president in 2016, he knew where he had seen that style before: when he was managing George Wallace’s 1968 campaign for president. He said they both used “the politics of fear.” After the Wallace campaign, Turnipseed went through a bigger change of heart than most Southern white men his age. He eventually became a civil rights lawyer and fought the Ku Klux Klan. He described Wallace’s and Trump’s “politics of fear” this way: “You know, it’s like you gotta be afraid. You know, the black folks are taking over. And, you know, Trump, the Mexicans are coming. The Chinese are going to get you. And, you know, fear is a motivator in many many incidents—in politics number one and many other ways. And so they are a lot alike in that. You had to play on fear, you know, fear of this group or that group. They are going to get you and so forth. You know, motivate people to vote.” Judy Turnipseed, Tom’s wife, also worked on the Wallace campaign. When she watched Trump, she saw Wallace. She said, “I think that both of them appeal to the same type of person, to the poor, working class people who really want to make America great again, or in their opinion great again, and their fear of government, fear of people who are not like themselves. And so they are alike that way. They appeal to the same kind of people. I think their style is a lot alike too. They draw a big crowd and get them all excited. They do not talk much about substance, ...