From West Palm Beach, Florida, on the night of Wednesday, November 6, as Donald Trump delivered his victory speech, his voice suddenly took on the tone of the obvious: “ [Cette campagne] It constituted a historic realignment. We have brought together citizens from all walks of life around a common core of common sense. You know, we are the party of common sense. » Indeed, who would not wish that, as the victorious candidate in the North American presidential elections then enumerates, ” security “, “an excellent education”to “mighty army”Short, “let things go well” ?
It is difficult to contradict the president-elect on all these points, however vague they may be: this is the objective of the “common sense” rhetorical strategy, widely used by Donald Trump during this election campaign, as well as during his first term. (2016-2020).
Of course, the American billionaire is not the only or the first political actor to use it: for decades, even centuries, men and women of all ideological persuasions have regularly used this argument of authority to justify their policies. But by establishing the Republican Party as a party of “common sense,” the future president illustrates a dynamic that seems specific to the 21st century.my century: one in which several right-wing populist actors, even far-right ones, use the reference to common sense in an almost systematic way.
Also common sense (or “common sense”, in its English version) was on everyone’s lips at the National Conservatism Conference, which was held on April 16 and 17 in Brussels, where far-right European leaders and intellectuals met. From Croatian MEP Ladislav Ilcic to former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman, everyone was keen to present the policies pursued by progressive pro-European elites as contrary to common sense; understand, against traditional values, especially among Christians.
In France, the political movement Sens commun (often synonymous with “common sense”), created after the failure of the Manif pour tous to push back the government on same-sex marriage, had managed to influence the UMP line in favor of the same Conservative values during the 2017 presidential election.
Already in 2010, Marine Le Pen positioned herself as a representative of this apparently pragmatic and consensual capacity to judge: questioned by The Sunday newspaper Regarding his good results in the polls, he declared: “It is the true choice of another policy. I embody common sense. »
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