The argument that Donald Trump, the likely presidential nominee of the Republican Party again in 2024 and who will have a third chance at the American presidency, is an anti-democratic, authoritarian figure is a rather simple one to articulate. Yet, I’ve noticed in the political podcasts I listen to and other places that have what you might call moderate and/or anti-anti-Trump perspectives — these are the folks who put far too much emphasis on how the “media” (a term I use quite loosely) and the left reacts to Donald Trump and the right versus reckoning with the actions of Donald Trump and the right — are missing the mark on the argument about why Trump is an anti-democratic, authoritarian figure.
My understanding of the latter’s argument is that Trump is supported by the American people, as recently demonstrated in the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary, both of which he won handily. Both events, of course, reflect votes by the American people. More to the point, when he’s doing his stump speeches at his political rallies, he’s often reacting in real time to what people are shouting at him and/or testing out “material” to see how it plays in the audience. Therefore, the argument goes, what could be more democratic than that?
Indeed, there is no getting around the fact that Donald Trump is a popular figure within the Republican Party, that while he lost to Joe Biden in 2020, he still commanded more than 74 million votes in the popular vote, and that obviously, he won the 2016 presidential election against Hillary Clinton. In fact, Trump’s popularity within the Republican Party, which isn’t so much based upon actual policies, is why the Republican Party today is thought of as more populist than conservative, i.e., eschewing traditionally conservative policies they used to favor, such as free trade, a robust national security state and footing globally, and the free market, among other policies (even a more moderate approach to immigration seems abundantly quaint now).
However, that’s not the central argument for why Donald Trump is an anti-democratic, authoritarian figure. Again, the argument that Donald Trump is an anti-democratic, authoritarian figure is a simple one: On January 6, 2021, he incited an insurrection against the United States government in an attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power — a first in American history, especially by a sitting president — and in so doing, thwart the will of the American people who elected Joe Biden as the 46th president of hte United States. That is precisely what makes Donald Trump anti-democratic and authoritarian. Additionally, more than three years after that event, he’s a.) continued to claim he won the 2020 presidential election despite losing; b.) tried to revise the history of January 6 and his own complicity in it, both by claiming that he tried to bring in the National Guard to respond to the insurrection and that the insurrectionists were actually patriots who are now political hostages (MAGA never does make much sense, as these are obviously two contradictory claims); and c.) importantly, continues to flirt with political violence as a means to an end, and that if he loses in 2024, it will be because of political interference and another stolen election rather than the will of the American people via democratic means.
All of this makes Donald Trump anti-democratic, authoritarian, and manifestly unfit to ever occupy the Oval Office again as the president of the United States. That he’s popular among 30-40 percent of the American people is a separate issue to whether he’s anti-democratic and authoritarian. If anyone soberly considers the facts of January 6 and Trump’s involvement, then they, too, must conclude that he’s anti-democratic and authoritarian.
Milam's Musings 