For anyone concerned about the future of the American
democracy, the primary political task for the next 265 days until November 5, 2024, is to prevent
Donald Trump from regaining the presidency.
Like many
political observers, I don’t trust electoral polls this far out, but it is
disconcerting to note that all of the polls show Trump winning handily over
Biden. Trump’s chances in
the swing states are even better.
It is incumbent upon us who are committed to
democracy to continue to shine a light on the fact that a second Trump
presidency would likely mean the end of democracy as we know it in the United
States.
That is an apocalyptic statement from one not one
normally given to apocalyptic statements.
But, in my defense, Trump has told us how he will act as president (in
the unlikely event we re-elect him, more on that below). He has acknowledged that he will:
·
weaponize
the Justice Department to go after Joe Biden and other political enemies;
·
internally
deport millions of undocumented immigrants to newly built detention centers
in Texas;
·
act
as a dictator “for day one” of his presidency to build a wall separating the
United States from Mexico and renew oil drilling.
It’s easy to be misled by Trump’s sloppy proclamations,
loose statements or refusals to deny his intent. Witness the following exchange, as reported
by the Guardian, with Sean Hannity, a Trump supporter, who leans over
backward to give Trump a chance to exonerate himself.
“Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight,
you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?” Hannity asked
Trump in the interview taped in Davenport, Iowa on Tuesday.
“Except for day one,” Trump responded. Trump said on
the “day one” he referred to, he would use his presidential powers to close the
southern border with Mexico and expand oil drilling.
Trump then repeated his assertion. “I love this guy,”
he said of the Fox News host. “He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are
you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and
we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’”
As the Associated
Press (AP) reports:
Trump has a long history of making inflammatory
proclamations that spark outrage from detractors and generate a stream of
headlines, without ever coming to fruition. Often they are made in a
tongue-in-cheek manner that allows Trump’s allies to claim he was joking and
cite the backlash as another example of a candidate skilled at baiting an
out-of-touch press that takes him far too literally.
The problem with AP’s analysis is that this allows
Trump to say exactly what he is planning to do while desensitizing his
supporters and the press to the truly shocking nature of his schemes.
Trump’s enablers -- for instance, the creators of Project
2025: The Presidential Transition Project at the Heritage Foundation -- are
not joking. They are identifying
hundreds, if not thousands, of conservative bureaucrats to be ready on Day One
to effectively put Trump’s dreams into concrete action.
When Trump first assumed office in 2016, he seemed
often starstruck, as if he had not quite expected to win and was shocked that
the country’s A-listers were willing to work for him from the oval office. These experienced politicians, military
officers, and bureaucrats, in fact, protected the country from Trump’s worst
excesses.
Trump will not make the same mistake twice; this time
he – and the Heritage Foundation – will be sure that those under him will do
exactly what he tells them.
I do think it is unlikely that Trump will be
re-elected. Less than 40% of voters are loyal-for-whatever Trumpists. If he is convicted
on any of the 91 felony counts against him, a significant percentage of even
these Trumpists will not vote for him.** For
re-election he will depend upon the few traditional Republicans left in the
party and the independents who supported him before, at least some of whom have
been paying attention and are unlikely to vote for him again.
Nevertheless, the two-party, hyperpartisan electoral
system that dominates American politics assures a close election regardless of
the candidates. It is incumbent upon us
who are clear-eyed about Trump to keep educating the public about the danger he
presents to an ever more fragile democracy, and we must not allow the media to
normalize Trump’s behavior or treat him as a legitimate candidate. Trump is not a legitimate candidate; he is a
populist demagogue who must not be allowed again to the pinnacle of power.
__________
** Many of those who vote for Trump believe the indictments to
be politically motivated. If he is
actually convicted in public jury trials that make clear the evidence against
him, some of that support will fall away.
