U.S. liberals trace their original suspicion and distrust of Donald Trump back to a series of red flags raised early in the 2016 campaigns. The red flags include several instances where Trump said that he would only accept the results of an election if he wins. Years later, on January 6, 2021, Americans watched that threat come to life. Since then, Trump has continued to toy with ideas of a right-wing dictatorship. Today roughly 75% of registered U.S. Republican voters say that they would support Donald Trump making himself dictator for at least one day.
Straight Arrow News contributor Dr. Rashad Richey says that while we might make excuses for those who voted for Donald Trump in 2016, we cannot afford to continue offering those same excuses today. Dr. Richey contends that Trump is now openly campaigning on the overthrow of a constitutional republic, and that anyone who continues to support Donald Trump in 2024 must now be considered an enemy of American democracy.
Okay, at this point in the political game, it is fair to assume [that] if you’re still a Trump supporter, you are antithetical to the notion of democracy. Let me tell you why I say that. I don’t say that lightly.
There was a time in my political analysis when I would say those who support Trump are a mixed bag, you have individuals that are adversarial to certain powers that be, they are tired of the gridlock in D.C., they wanted something new, they wanted something to be a game changer, and so they experimented with Trump. I don’t say that anymore.
At this point, at this stage of the political career of Donald Trump, you have to conclude the man is adverse to democracy. His team, the people who will implement his policies, if you give him power again, they are openly saying that they are trying to get rid of democracy. They’re at major conventions saying that they are adverse to democracy. They don’t care about policies. They’re not concerned about rule of law [or] due process. Remember, January 6 was about overthrowing not simply the government, not simply the Capitol, but the Constitution. They were there to stop a constitutionally mandated process.