Trump’s latest threat to democracy
The guy who spent the last four years whining that the 2020 election he lost was “fixed,” promised his supporters on Friday that, if he’s elected president again, all future elections would be fixed — by him. Not only that, but he promised them that he’d take their right to vote away from them. And they were fine with it.
“Christians, get out and vote! Just this time -– you won’t have to do it any more,” Donald Trump told a rally hosted in West Palm Beach, Florida, by the far-right Christian advocacy group Turning Point Action. “You know what? It’ll be fixed! It’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote any more my beautiful Christians,” he added, to boisterous cheers from the audience.
Welcome to Orwell’s doublethink in action. According to the MAGA Republican pre-election propaganda it’s Democrats who are “destroying America” and “taking away our freedoms.” But Donald Trump just promised his “Christian” supporters that, if elected, he will cancel the 2028 election, and all future elections. The man who claimed to know nothing about Project 2025 just added a new and disturbing amendment to it. He will be dictator for life, and he can even anoint his successor.
No, he’s not kidding. If elected, Trump will be emboldened by the recent Supreme Court decision making him immune from prosecution for official acts, and by the lesson of the insurrection of January 6. And what was that lesson? That he didn’t go far enough.
Back then, Trump was Commander-in-Chief of all branches of America’s military. He could have invoked the Insurrection Act, declared martial law and ordered Democratic members of Congress arrested. He didn’t do it then, not because he has any respect for the rule of law, but because he’s a coward and feared the consequences of an unabashed failed coup d’etat.
Now even Trump understands that a large portion of America’s military are with him in spirit, and prepared to overthrow the lawful government at his command in 2028. If they fail next time, he can simply state that it was an official act and he’s immune from prosecution. By 2028 Trump will be in his early 80s if he’s still alive, and he knows he can watch in relative safety as the courts battle out whether or not attempting to destroy democracy constitutes an “official” presidential act or not.
Experts on authoritarianism warn that the public should take Trump seriously when he speaks in this manner. “Oh. Trump just cancelled the 2028 election,” political commentator Keith Olbermann posted on X. In a separate post, Caty Payette, the communications director for Democratic US senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, added: “When we say Trump is a threat to democracy, this is exactly what we’re talking about.”
There was a time when I would have been called an alarmist for writing this. I know that is so because I WAS called an alarmist, and other names. Before the last election in the Summer of 2020 — prior to the January 6 insurrection, I predicted that Donald Trump would employ violent means to attempt to overthrow the election. I warned that he would still be president for 78 days after losing, and he could do a great deal of damage in that time. I cautioned that he might use the military to stay in power. The fact that he did not was down to his own fear. It certainly had nothing to do with respect for the law.
Now Trump would have nothing to lose by employing every means available to him to stay in power permanently should he win in November. That is why we must win. We should be thankful that Trump is not the incumbent president with all the levers of power available to him, because I promise you he would use those levers. And next time there will be no way to get rid of him, or his cocaine-snorting idiot son Don Jr, should he be Trump’s anointed successor. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.