Trump Created America’s First Dictator Playbook
The 2020 US Presidential election has come and gone. The results of the election remain under scrutiny for those on the right supporting the President. For those who supported and/or voted for Biden acknowledge that Biden won the Presidential election. In fact, the world acknowledges Biden is the next US President, taking office on January 20, 2021. Thus, we find ourselves in this conundrum of the President refusing to accept the election and those who accept the election. The direct result of the President’s refusal to accept the election outcome, and his allies’ election fraud election campaign propaganda, sets the stage for a future dictator in America. Let me take you on a journey to explain how we got there and how this framework sets up the future.
MAGA’s appeal and apparent cure
Before the 2016 election, Donald Trump ran on MAGA or Make America Great Again. The main message behind was appealing to middle class American families in the rust belt and rural America who Democrats and Republicans left behind or at least didn’t consider as important as they are. More importantly, main stream media left them behind and failed to give those Americans a voice heard by all.
For too long, Democrats had the “blue wall” (Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania) which consists of blue collar workers. It’s a a Democrat’s ideal campaign ground. Albeit, that held true until 2016 when Donald Trump won those states. Here is the 2016 electoral votes map:
Take note of the commonality that Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania share: white, working class, wider share of male vote for Trump, and older voters. Further, Trump campaigned on the main message of getting manufacturing jobs (auto, steel, and coal in particular) back in the US all of which is predominately outsourced. That message appeals to voters, since it cures a social problem.
MAGA, and hence Trumpism, is not a political ideology. It is a philosophy to cure a social problem where Americans who became disadvantaged at the peril of corporate America or even technology, e.g. Industry 4.0, now have recourse. They now see an opportunity to win and put bread on the table. And, it’s only more impactful if this message comes from a person outside of Washington’s political establishment with a perceived business acumen.
As a result, the MAGA philosophy created a cult following where Trump loyalists will go as far as giving up their life Trump. Such a deep commitment shows the sort of group think that one might see as an existential threat. The net outcome from this propaganda effort yields Trump with an army of followers who will do anything for him.
Trump’s trump card
Trump came from the business world giving him an advantage to disrupt his political party and Washington. He managed to disrupt the party so deeply that it became his own party. The GOP doesn’t resemble the party of Lincoln. It resembles the party of Trump. He managed this takeover through appealing to voters and instilling fear into his faithful subjects.
If we consider that Trump has no idea how Government works nor does he understand the Constitution, he can only work through fear. One can ascribe such behaviour to that of a mob boss who goes after, and ultimately kills, those who don’t oblige. While the President didn’t kill any of his party members, he has commanded control and embarrassed, shamed, and humiliated them or anyone who speaks negatively about him on Twitter.
Conservative justice appointments to SCOTUS
The President had the opportunity to appoint three conservative justices to the Supreme Court of the United States. Each of these successive appointments tilted the Court more conservative with a 6–3 conservative majority. It shall be mentioned that both Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Gorsuch, a textualist, can both be considered swing votes that may alter the Court’s ruling for a particular case. On the other hand, Amy Coney Barret is a staunch conservative, so it is unlikely she would ever side with the Court’s liberal wing.
Given the above dynamic, Trump has the necessary Court arrangement where he might push through more conservative legislation that, to some, may be perceived in a discriminatory way. While there isn’t a suggestion the Court would ever rule against the Constitution, progressives and liberals might see such legislation as discriminatory. Again, the judiciary is set-up to push through a populist agenda so long as it falls within the confines of the Court’s conservative wing, or at most, one of the conservative dissents with the liberal wing. The point is that there is always a one vote buffer, since a simple majority (5–4) ruling suffices.
Senate impeachment acquittal
The Senate impeachment acquittal provided fertile ground for Trump to unleash his might. When the President’s own party acquits him, then he has free reign to do whatever he wants. In other words, he can abuse his power with little to no remark or rebuke from anyone. Naturally, that is in stark contrast to the Nixon impeachment where bipartisan efforts lead to Nixon’s resignation.
2020 Election fraud propaganda
As was predicted long before the election, the ‘Art of the Deal’ author predicted that Trump won’t or can’t handle losing. Now, his prediction was before the 2016 election, which we all know Trump won. On the hand, this prophecy came true in 2020 — the President lost, and he can’t handle it.
In response to his loss, the President has embarked on a course of conduct that includes frivolous lawsuits, emboldened attorneys Giuliani, Powell, Ennis, and Wood to raise these claims and conspiracy theories aimed at undermining the election’s integrity as well as democratic institutions as a whole. Further, the President even championed the Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, to file a lawsuit, against states, in SCOTUS which was never heard.
The result of these baseless claims and frivolous lawsuits is a deep division within the country. Trump loyalists believe the Democrats stole the election. The strength of their belief comes from the the groundwork laid during the 2016 campaign cycle and in the first years of the Trump presidency. This deep rooted loyalism and nationalism that Trump created within people give them a certain sense of pride, place, false patriotism, and nationalism. All of these psychological uppers that people feel and connect with means that they form a nearly impenetrable bond and, hence, wall for the President.
Framework for the dictator
Each of the above events combined with the President’s narcissistic tendencies set-up the environment for a dictatorship to take root and blossom. By the grace of the US judiciary system, this dictatorship blossoming hasn’t happened yet. Up until now, the US judiciary system composed of local and state courts, federal and appellate courts, and SCOTUS have all upheld the rule of law. In each of the President’s or his allies lawsuits, the court has dismissed or rejected the lawsuit except in one case. You may ask why? Simple: they have nothing and the President isn’t smart enough.
The moment is now for all Americans and the world alike to take note that should a more creative, more intelligent person win an election with the same fanatical ideas (or radical left ideas) and personality as President Trump, these very same events can and will give birth to a dictator. It’s only a matter of time. All eyes should focus on the 2024 Presidential election.
If we must look at it deeper, perhaps, the only misstep that the President made was not having true loyalists appointed to the Supreme Court or other judicial appointments. Notwithstanding the judicial appointments, any dictator needs a loyal following who will go to battle for him or her and feed off propaganda or even create the propaganda. Further, the wannabe dictator must also eradicate any and all political opposition.
To understand more,take a moment to think about Nazi Germany and Hitler’s comment about opposition in his book Mein Kampf:
“The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category. ”
For just a second, take this statement and put it into the American main stream right context. The main steam right media blasts Democrats as “radical left”, “communists”, and “socialists” but these have no real meaning in hindsight. As of now, 74M+ people believed that during the 2020 election. But, not everyone else does. So what lessons learned on how to make the messaging wider and more appealing are now available for someone?
Final Thoughts
The US Presidential 2020 election yielded a few concepts that we all have to take note, most notably the test on American democracy. Joe Biden is the President-elect and will take his oath of office on January 20, 2021. But, we must all be sober that Trumpism and MAGA are here to stay.
The possibility of an American dictator is very real and it could be someone from either the right or the left. They only need a brain to complete what Trump started.
