žižek archive
archive / stories / Trump vs. Sanders

Trump vs. Sanders

anecdote · retold in 6 talks

Žižek contrasts Trump as a 'postmodern relativist' with Sanders, who he argues embodies the 'silent majority' and 'moral decency' without cheap subversion.

2016: 1 talk 2022: 1 talk 2023: 1 talk 2024: 1 talk 2025: 2 talks
≤2000talks it is told in, per year2026

As told 6

“If there ever was a person who... embodies a silent majority with its simple ordinary people moral decency and so on, it's Bernie Sanders.”
“if you look at bernie sanders, how he acts, he acts as a true moral majority with common decency... that's the miracle of bernie sanders.”
“listen listen to ted cruz and you will see what real horror is... this pattern is now ruined by sanders... it can be totally chaotic”

What it carries

one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)

Its cast and sources

populated by
alongside works

Every retelling 6

Žižek contrasts Trump as a 'postmodern relativist' with Sanders, who he argues embodies the 'silent majority' and 'moral decency' without cheap subversion., illustrating fascism-populism,democracy
Trump is a manipulative historicist who believes in nothing, while Bernie Sanders acts as a 'true moral majority' with common decency, representing a 'miracle' of authentic moral engagement., illustrating act of faith,ideology
Žižek contrasts Trump (a 'pig' but potentially half-liberal) with Ted Cruz ('real horror'), arguing that the breakdown of unwritten democratic rules between parties leads to chaos and opens space for fascists., illustrating fascism-populism,democracy
Žižek contrasts Trump's self-ironical, vulgar, postmodern lack of dignity with Bernie Sanders' old-fashioned moral majority dignity and shame., illustrating soft fascism,ideology,liberalism-political-correctness
Žižek compares Trump and Bernie Sanders, arguing Trump is a 'pure postmodern relativist' who changes positions, while Sanders is a 'common decent consistent man,' suggesting the left should stop being subversive and embrace consistency., illustrating postmodern relativist,neo-conservative left
Trump is a postmodern politician performing conservatism as a gigantically ego-tripping spectacle, whereas Sanders is an old-fashioned moralist; this contrast highlights the postmodern nature of current right-wing populism., illustrating obscene master,return of the repressed