Things have grown pretty bad for Trump. He must be feeling quite desperate. His political fortunes finally seem to be sinking. The results in last night's election in Georgia did not help any, since Herschel Walker is often viewed as just one more cartoon character handpicked by none other than Donald Trump himself. His legal problems seem to be mounting, as he was just handed the first major legal defeat for him, specifically with the Trump Organization.
Increasingly, his numbers are slipping to such an extent that many Republicans are actively courting Florida's Rick DeSantos. It seems that his grip on the GOP might finally be slipping for real.
That's not to say that it is over. Many people still clearly like him, and he still also clearly has his supporters. But he may be feeling the pressure of hearing the clock ticking. And this may explain the rather startlingly direct comments that he made recently, where he basically got rid of any pretense of actually caring for the Constitution that he swore to uphold and defend when he took the Oath of Office in order to become the President of the United States.
It feels like typical Trump. Say something that, on the surface, seems incredible and outlandish and bound to generate controversy. Something so outrageous, that no other politician could possibly get away with it, to the point where, once again, some prominent Republicans even criticize him for it.
What did he say?
Well, here id what he said (quote taken from the article linked below):
“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 posted on Truth Social, suggesting there should either be a new election or he should be declared the winner retroactively.
Now, finally, he is showing his true colors. All of those people who claim that detractors of Trump were just being paranoid about his fascist tendencies, and that he did not pose a real or serious threat to democracy will have a much more difficult time defending him now. According to Trump, we should simply suspend the parts of the Constitution that he finds inconvenient, and that he should simply be put back into power in the White House again. Surely, we can expect a more directly dictatorial kind of presidency is that were to happen.
Once again, the Republican Party seems characteristically divided. Here again, a little bit from the same article by Brett Samuels (see link below):
Many Republicans spoke out to condemn Trump’s meeting with Fuentes and Ye and their antisemitic views, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
But the response to Trump’s weekend comments about the Constitution has been comparatively quiet among Republicans.
To borrow the words from Padme, "This is how democracy dies."
At least if we allow it to. Republicans cannot seemingly make a clean break from their toxic, and now obviously anti-democratic (former?) leader.
The paradox is that many of Trump's most passionate and loyal supporters claim to love the Constitution, particularly when it comes to the Second Amendment, which admittedly often appears to be the only part of the Constitution that they care about. Now, we are going to find out if that is actually true. Trump is clearly feeling that he is above having to deal with the limits that the Constitution would place on him and his access to more power.
So this appears to be Trump's biggest political gamble yet. Yes, the ultimate con artist of all time is well-known for gambling, but this is actually taking it to another level. He is no longer even pretending to have any reverence - or even serious respect - for the Constitution. This should be even more controversial than anything else that he has done or said to this point, and that's really saying something!
Hosting Kanye West (I guess he's now known as Ye West) just after West made some controversial, anti-Semitic comments, while also paradoxically hosting a known white nationalist (read: white supremacist) during the same dinner drew some heavy criticism. But this outright stating that he - Trump - should be placed in power no matter what it takes. Despite not having provided any proof of the "massive voter fraud" that he insists kept him out of office, he is now demanding either another election, or simply to be put back in the White House, even without an election.
Remember the title to that Sinclair Lewis book about populist fascism coming to America? The book is called "It Can't Happen Here."
Well, it feels like Trump is almost using that as a guide. This man has done nothing but polarize Americans like never before in recent history, foster lies and divisions and hatred, handle the awesome responsibilities of the presidency in an incredibly inept and corrupt and transparently self-serving manner, attempt a coup, and then deny his own role in that coup. And now, he is unapologetically demanding simply to be put back into the Oval Office.
Now we will find out if, indeed, it actually can happen here. Trumpism remains the biggest test that American democracy has ever faced.
Let us all hope that it passes this test.
Trump digs deeper hole with Constitution comments by Brett Samuels, 12/06/22:
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3762677-trump-digs-deeper-hole-with-constitution-comments/
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