You’ve heard the old saw, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” A modern maxim might go like this: If you’re still not convinced Donald Trump is a literal authoritarian, then you’re the one who is deranged. (Sadly, based on current polling, this description seems to apply to a lot of Republicans.)
The latest evidence comes to us via The Detroit News, where a 2020 phone call that then-President Trump made to two GOP election officials is making waves. (If this sounds familiar, it’s because Trump is currently indicted in Georgia as a direct result of a similar call around the same time.)
On the Michigan call—which was previously noted in the Jan. 6 committee’s report, but not nearly in such detail, and a recording of the call has not been made public—Trump reportedly pressured two Wayne County elections board members not to certify the 2020 results.
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Now, to a certain type of person—let’s call them “anti-anti-Trumpers” (right-leaning folks who won’t cop to loving Trump, but are nevertheless always running interference for him)—only pearl-clutching hysterics are still concerned about Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election and stop the peaceful transfer of power.
Never mind the fact that the Michigan story is just one more reminder of a much larger—more disturbing—pattern of behavior.
Just as Trump tried to use the presidency to extort Ukraine’s president, pressure Georgia’s secretary of state to “find” more votes, and lean on the governor of Arizona to overturn the 2020 election, Trump appears to have attempted to seduce two Republicans on Michigan’s Wayne County elections board.
Can you imagine the immense pressure these canvassers faced to please or appease the president of the United States of America, who was also the leader of their party?
Whether they were motivated by fear, flattery, or a sense of loyalty, few of us could resist that kind of temptation.
In fact, they didn’t.
Former President Donald Trump arrives at a rally on April 2, 2022 near Washington, Michigan.
Scott Olson/GettyAnyone who keeps insisting that “there’s nothing to freak out about” because democracy is resilient and “the system held” should take a closer look at this case: After Trump called them, these two Republican canvassers attempted to “rescind” their votes for certification.
The fact that it didn’t work should not give us a false sense of security regarding the potential danger that something like this might work the next time, any more than the fact that Vice President Mike Pence refused Trump’s demand that he not certify the 2020 election should lead us to believe the outcome was preordained.
The Jan. 6 Capitol riot, you see, was merely just the loudest, most dramatic, symptom of a multi-pronged coup attempt. And Trump’s threat to the system didn’t end there.
Rather than going gentle into that good night, Trump decided to run for re-election again in 2024, promising “retribution,” calling his rivals “vermin,” and talking about wanting to be a “dictator for a day” (just to name a few of his latest, greatest).
And once again, people who are alarmed by this—people who are trying to hold him accountable for his past behavior—are considered either hysterical or guilty of attempting to subvert democracy (or both).
We are told, for example, by former CIA analyst and author Martin Gurri, that “the combination of Trump and authoritarianism is an impossibility.”
According to Gurri, calling out Trump’s authoritarian tendencies won’t hurt his feelings, but it is tantamount to accusing your “family, friends, and neighbors” (good people, who, presumably, voted for Trump) of being “goose-stepping bigots.”
Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to do that. Better just to let Trump do what he wants, then.
A protester on Nov. 4, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan.
Jeff Kowalsky/GettyIn some cases, the people who are trying to hold Trump accountable are even accused of inadvertently helping elevate Trump. For example, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose primary campaign is currently on death watch, is blaming Trump’s indictments for “distorting” the primary campaign.
It’s hard to argue with DeSantis on that. But the notion that law enforcement would look the other way on Trump’s alleged crimes (so as not to mess up DeSantis’ campaign) was probably as unlikely as the notion that DeSantis would help give Trump cover by condemning Trump’s indictment when it was handed down.
In a sane world, indictments would hurt a campaign, not help it. Facing a scenario where Trump seems to be immune from accountability, it would be hard to blame the people who see him as an existential threat from acting, well, hysterical.
Along those lines, this week’s decision by the Colorado Supreme Court to disqualify Trump from the ballot can be seen as a questionable act of desperation by the “Orange Man Bad” brigade. But—based on Trump’s pattern of authoritarian behavior, coupled with his scary rhetoric—desperation feels like a reasonable response.
With a bemused smirk, we are lectured by voices, like Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld, that going after Trump “makes him more exciting.”
Presumably, worrying too much about the threat Trump poses to America is lame. The cool kids act as if they are “above it all.”
That sounds like a good way to watch our freedoms collapse.
So how should we react?
First, I think anyone who cares about this country should look at the situation soberly. It’s not overwrought to look at Trump’s past behavior and rhetoric and rationally conclude that he’s a threat to liberal democracy. Indignation is not synonymous with insanity.
Second, we should acknowledge that some of the attempts to stop Trump have had the unintended effect of helping him within the Republican primary.
Third, we should avoid acting like Trump, which is to say that we should avoid the temptation to “fight fire with fire,” undermine norms, and otherwise destroy democratic institutions in order to save democracy.
In my opinion, Trump’s critics and adversaries have not crossed the line (with the caveat that the Alvin Bragg indictment seems like weak sauce, even though Trump also seems guilty of using campaign funds to pay off a porn star).
If one believes that Trump is guilty of a crime, then not indicting him (for political purposes) would be wrong. Likewise, if one believes that Trump is constitutionally ineligible to appear on a ballot (a debatable assertion), then testing that theory is appropriate.
Having said that, my belief is that the best way to defeat Trump in 2024 is at the ballot box.
Doing that will require harnessing passion, while avoiding hysteria. In other words, “Keep Calm and Carry On.”
Whether you’re a Democrat rooting for Joe Biden, a Never Trump conservative who cannot vote for Trump, or anyone who cares deeply about freedom and the American way, you must simultaneously guard against becoming inured to things that should not be normalized, while also not allowing those outrages to cloud your thinking.
We can maintain our composure by remembering why we are doing this in the first place: Love of freedom and preservation of the last best hope of earth for our children and grandchildren.
“The true soldier,” G.K. Chesterton said, “fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”
This is why we fight.
