A popular Twitter hashtag is putting the divergent 2016 presidential election into context, reminding us all that, for much of the world, ugly politics are all too common.

The hashtag, #Nov8AfricanEdition, focuses the campaign specifically through cliches of African democracy. Wednesday’s third presidential debate breathed the movement to life with moments that hit all-too familiar notes for onlookers on the continent.

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The un-written script of the hashtag plays Trump and Clinton as warring authoritarian parties on the brink of civil conflict. It was a chance for satirists to wear the other shoe in a process which usually sees the United States in the position of political condescension.

Comedians in Nigeria and South Africa deftly grabbed and re-tweeted debate moments as if they were African headlines, slapping the hashtag on to what quickly became a fresh punditry perspective on the darker realities of the campaign.

Some were inspired by Republican candidate Donald Trump’s attitude toward the democratic process. When asked during the final debate if he would accept the election results, Trump responded somewhat ambiguously that he would “look at it at the time,” before adding, “I will keep you in suspense.”

“The claims that are being made, the whole demeanor of [Republican Party candidate] Donald Trump in the run-up to the ballot – it’s something one would regularly associate with an African politician,” said Ryan Cummings, a South African Commentator and comedian.

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That is, at least, what’s inspired Cummings and others to give the US a dose of the same rhetoric often used to explain African politics.

Like any good joke, the comedian's tweets are anchored in truths; historically, a cast of politicians who’ve said and acted upon Trump’s rhetoric have won elections in African countries.

To find inspiration for their satire, one need only look to Cote D’Ivoire in 2011, where authoritarian president Laurent Gbagbo contested close election results and brought the country into civil war. Or to Zimbabwe, where President Mugabe arrested his political opposition in 2008.

To be sure, authoritarian governments still have political clout in today’s world. In 2015, over 1.5 billion people still lived in autocracies, a status which many African nations qualify for, such as Uganda and Gabon. This September, Quartz reported that half of all Africans distrust their national election process.

Another dramatic connection between the two continents has been made by Trump himself, who brought one supporter, Obama’s Kenyan half-brother, Malik, to Wednesday night’s debate. Now a US citizen, Malik has begun his own hashtag, #Africans4Trump, from his soapbox position:

Both hashtags emphasize the international stage on which the muck-throwing 2016 presidential campaign has played out. Like anywhere else, its democratic election process is imperfect.

For African countries, that imperfection is nothing new.

TopicstrumpAfricaGovernmentPoliticsTwitterDemocracyPresidential Debate

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Demand Equity

On Twitter, #Nov8thAfricanEdition Flips the Script on the 2016 Election

By Luca Powell