u/Accomplished-Cow5246

In his first term as the 45th he and his supporters where way more focused on humor. Often memeing about He Will Not Divide Us, kekistan and other right wing subcultures. Many right wing commentators started popping up on the internet at the time, mostly on YouTube with figures like Mark Dice, Paul Watson and Ben Shapiro. Furthermore both parties had many less politically charged and laidback friendly memes such as Ken Bone and making fun of both candidates for saying cringey quotes such as Hillary saying Pokemon Go to the polls or Trump saying he was given a small loan of a million dollars. Undeniably Trump was very integrated in the culture of 2016 internet trends.

For his first term Trump ran on issues such as boarder security being a problem with his "build a wall" speech being a very popular meme at the time. The discussion of transgender rights became an issue during the 2016 election, with Trump openly supporting them. As well as gun ownership, during his first term Trump had added bumpstocks to the NFA class of firearms after the 2018 Las Vegas shooting.

That's not to say he wasn't divisive. In fact I would say he was more divisive in 2016. His own second Vice President was against him at the time. Going as far as to call him Hitler and he was not alone. Back then many republicans where onboard with the "Never Trump" movement. Despite this arguably the political violence was far less prominent and violent. The worst of it being the congressional baseball practice shooting at the beginning of his term and and January 6th riot and the very tail end of his first term.

Covid19 and it's consequences can't be fully typed out by just me in one sitting but we can all agree it got bad. The 2020 election was very serious in contrast to the last. For Trump to run with his humorous style would have been seen as disrespectful and inappropriate. Both covid and Biden undeniably played into that. I believe Biden's incompetency is a big reason for the swing back to Trump. But Biden isn't the topic in this thread. However one thing that is relevant in relation to Trump is Biden's... lenient foreign policy. He was responsible for the disastrous pullout of Afghanistan which made us look weak on the world stage, resulting in a massive shakeup to world stability. Our enemies became bolder and more hostile.

In the 2024 election Trump had largely stayed stoic as he did with the 2020 election, but there where hints of his 2016 humor here there with a few comedy skits making fun of Kamala. He had won with more votes than in 2016. With his growth in popularity many republicans felt there is no other choice than to go with Trump. Including Vice President Vance himself. He probably took up the position as he wouldn't have any career options otherwise.

Since his second term has started he has ramped up his authoritative attitude and right wing stances. Many LGBT rights groups have stated his policies on transgender issues are outright homophobic and transphobic in contrast to his outward support in 2016. His 2nd administration has partly abolished the NFA in his one big beautiful, almost getting a fully abolishment passed. Then there is the boarder security and tariffs. Some argue that his harsh and authoritarian attitude and actions are the result of Joe Biden's lenient actions resulting in the issues getting extremely bad requiring Trump to crackdown harshly on both foreign and domestic issues. The ICE raids and his general tough on crime laws have resulted in extreme division, many people feel saver under Trump while many feel endangered to the point those people have compared ICE to the SS gestapo. He has captured and tried Nicholas Murano and started the war in Iran, something he has showed support for since the conflict started in the 1980s however he did not start this conflict in his first term.

The culture around him has shown the same serious shift. The man himself has been shot in the head by an assassin and has had 2 more assassination attempts on his life since then. The online sphere has become more serious. I hardly see lighthearted memes about him anymore. Sites like twitter have fractured into 2. X for the right wing and bluesky for the left.

All in all I would say a decade ago we where way better off but as if things where perfect. But the culture around Trump reinforces that and I'm very curious to hear if people agree with me. What is your all perception on his first and second term?

I bet the cultural difference surrounding this man will be studied for years to come.