A conversation about a second Trump term
A good faith discussion
🗨 So, Trump is the 2024 Republican nominee for president.
💬 Indeed.
🗨 So, I guess this means you’re moving to Cuba or something?
💬 Why would you say that?
🗨 It’s just that liberals like you always threaten to leave the country if a Republican wins.
💬 Okay.
🗨 It’s just a joke.
💬 Hilarious.
🗨 Well, all you-have-no-sense-of-humor aside, I did want to hear your thoughts on Trump now that he’s officially the nominee.
💬 As we’ve discussed before, I think he’s uniquely dangerous to the country.
🗨 Yeah, and you made some good points there. I was particularly surprised to hear that CIA expert in civil wars warn about instability in the US.
💬 But you’re not concerned about Trump?
🗨 Look. It’s an election-year tradition: Democrats say the world will end if the Republicans win. And then when the Republican wins, guess what? The world doesn’t end. In fact, a lot of good stuff happens. Remember the big tax cuts we got under Trump? I’m always a fan of getting to keep more of my paycheck.
💬 As you know I care a lot about being accurate with my statements and beliefs. Based on my reading and research, a second Trump term would seriously threaten government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
🗨 A bit melodramatic today are we?
💬 Okay.
🗨 Well anyway, tell me more. What makes you so concerned about Trump? You don’t want a wall on the southern border?
💬 I think Trump has been abundantly clear about his plans for a second term, and they are frankly terrifying. Current and former advisors confirm that his plans are legitimate. He’s also got four years of experience this time around, so he knows what he needs to do to get his way.
“The former president is telling the country exactly what he wants to do. Are voters listening?”
So yes, I do think Trump is likely to essentially destroy American democracy. Why? Because he’s said he will, his closest advisors have said he will, impartial experts have said he will, and he’s learned from his previous failed attempts.
🗨 Okay, let’s go through each of those claims one by one, starting with what Trump has said he’d do.
💬 Sure. Here’s 10 things he’s said he’ll do:
1. He’s said he’s willing to act as a dictator. But don’t worry, he’ll only be a dictator for one day:
During a town hall in Iowa last night, Fox News’s Sean Hannity tossed Trump what ought to have been a softball question. “Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?” Hannity asked. “Except for day one,” Trump replied.
2. He’s said he is open to “terminating” parts of the United States Constitution:
“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post in December 2022.
3. He’s said he’ll abuse the law to root out supposed threats within this country:
He has warned that the gravest threats to the nation come “not from abroad, but from within,” has called for expanded use of the death penalty while praising countries that rely on “quick” trials and extrajudicial killings, and has said looters should be shot.
“He’s talking like a fascist. He’s planning fascist policies. He’s staffing up with fascists.” -Zack Beauchamp, Vox
4. He’s said he’d openly use the power of the federal government against political opponents:
“If I happen to be president and I see somebody who’s doing well and beating me very badly, I say, ‘Go down and indict them.’ Mostly what that would be, they’d be out of business. They’d be out. They’d be out of the election.”
5. . . . and that includes individuals who he feels wronged him at some point:
He also has privately discussed using the Justice Department to target old subordinates he feels betrayed him, including his former chief of staff, John Kelly; his former attorney general William Barr; his former attorney Ty Cobb; and Mark Milley, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs during Trump’s time in office.
6. He has been very open about his intent to take down media outlets who aren’t appropriately supportive of him:
He has taken an especially hostile approach to the press, vowing to “rout the fake news media,” calling reporters “THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” and saying outlets like NBC News and MSNBC should be investigated for treason.
7. He has called, on more than one occasion, for the use of the death penalty (sometimes without due process) for a wide variety of offenses:
Trump has also called for shooting migrants to try and deter them from crossing the border. As president, he allegedly asked his Defense Secretary Mark Esper about shooting people who were protesting the death of George Floyd, Esper has said in his book and interviews. Trump has also said drug dealers, human traffickers and anyone convicted of killing a police officer should face the death penalty.
And here’s an even more direct quote:
“We will immediately stop all of the pillaging and theft. Very simply: If you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store.”
8. But he’s also clear that violent lawbreakers are okay if they’re on his side:
Former President Donald Trump promised Wednesday night that if he is elected he will pardon a “large portion” of the people convicted of federal offenses for their participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
9. He’ll round up immigrants to put them in detention camps near the US-Mexican border:
- Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he would give “immunity” to police “to give the job they have to do” and said the officers understand who the migrants are.
- “It’s going to be the local police are going to turn them over, and we’re going to have to move them back to their country,” he added.
10. He has embraced brazenly fascist rhetoric.
He’s asserted immigrants “poison the blood” of the nation, a phrase used by another infamous fascist a few decades ago. He’s also praised dictators while dehumanizing his opponents, a classic fascist one-two punch:
He has continued to praise authoritarian leaders like China’s Xi Jinping, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, while dehumanizing his enemies as “scum” and “thugs” who “live like vermin.”
So there are 10 plans, promises, and quotes from Trump’s own mouth. He’s been clear about the kind of president he’d be.
And if you remember, he was clear back in 2020 about not being willing to accept the an election loss, how there would be violent retribution. It’s unclear why anyone would be surprised that he orchestrated the January 6th insurrection. He’d spent months telling people about it.
This isn’t happening in a vacuum either. We can look at the rise of other authoritarians and dictators to discover patterns:
The evidence we have from foreign countries suggests that, when an elected leader with authoritarian tendencies spends time out of power, they get much more aggressive in trying to seize power when they return to high office.
I’ll finish up with the direct words of two diehard conservatives:
Former GOP Representative Liz Cheney:
Trump has “told us what he will do. It’s very easy to see the steps that he will take.”
Former Governor Chris Christie:
“Do I think he was kidding when he said he was a dictator? All you have to do is look at the history, and that’s why failing to speak out against him, making excuses for him, pretending that somehow he’s a victim, empowers him. This is an angry, bitter man who now wants to be back as president because he wants to exact retribution on anyone who has disagreed with him, anyone who has tried to hold him to account for his own conduct.”
🗨 Whew. That’s a lot. I’ll have to look it over more closely and get back to you. At the very beginning of this conversation you said this:
Why do I think Trump is likely to destroy American democracy. Because he’s said he will, his closest advisors have said he will, impartial experts have said he will, and he’s learned from his previous failed attempts.
So far we’ve just covered the first — what he’s said. I still want to hear the other three, but can we do that another time?
💬 For sure. Talk to you later!
