Trump's "China" and Chavez's "Revolution": Displacements of Meaning

Over the last few years, President Donald Trump’s constant rhetoric about China has become somewhat commonplace. But in recent weeks, his comments have swiveled from economic relations with the PRC to now regarding the Coronavirus, COVID-19. Some news outlets have predicted that Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden plan to make COVID-19 and each other’s responses to the virus a central part of their 2020 presidential campaigns, so it should not be a surprise that recently China has become a regular symbol used by Trump. The message China symbolizes in Trump’s rhetoric, however, has seen multiple changes. Aníbal F. Gauna, in his 2006 work analyzing Hugo Chavez, describes this concept using the term “displacements of meaning” (Gauna, 2006). Gauna describes changes that occur over multiple decades, while Trump’s shifting meaning has been fluid over a few weeks, but we can still use Geuna’s idea to analyze Trump’s statements. Doing so provides a deeper understanding of the way the president uses symbols in his public statements.

Trump’s comments on China and the coronavirus have been anywhere from friendly to what some are labeling xenophobic (or, if not xenophobic, at least promoting xenophobia). Anita Kumar, in Politico, summed them up like this: “First, China was handling the coronavirus outbreak “really well.” Then, China was to blame for letting the “Chinese virus” spread. Now, China has “very much stepped up” its purchases of American goods amid a “difficult time.” Next? Who knows”. But this seemingly scattered rhetoric serves a purpose. Chavez redefined the symbolic meaning of “revolution” three times in his career, Gauna writes. The “initial paradigm was the Moral Revolution, followed by the Revolution as a Political War. Post-2005, and until Chavez’s death, Socialism became a new meaning for the Revolution”. The meaning changed when it needed to, to be the most effective for Chavez at that time. Instead of aligning the symbolic meaning of “China” with different ideas over time, as Chavez did, Trump uses multiple meanings in quick succession. When he says China is handling the virus well, he paints China as just another country that he, as head of state, is on good terms with. When he uses the term “Chinese virus”, in essence placing the blame for COVID-19 on China, he paints himself as a powerful leader, scolding an enemy nation. And when Trump claims China is helping the United States through trade, he paints them as the losers of his trade war.

The multiple symbolic ideas tied to revolution that Gauna describes Chavez using over time are very different from the way Trump attaches meanings to his comments on China, but there are distinct similarities between the two populist leader’s methods. Both men displace the meaning of the symbols they create. Chavez did so in order to adapt to changing times, while Trump seems to do so in an attempt to cover multiple bases all at once. Going forward, it will be interesting to see in what other ways he characterizes his relationship with China.