Lately a number of Republican spokesmen have their knickers in a knot over Democrtats labeling Donald Trump as a” threat to democracy”. MAGA enthusiasts consider the phrase so incindeary, they have convinced themselves that Democrats are using it to foment assasination attemps. Trump’s personal response is to say Kamala Harris is the real threat to democracy. So apparently if Republicans use the phrase it’s perfectly fine. It’s only inappropriate if Democrats use it. Sort of like the GOP position concerning elections. They’re legit as long as they win. I can’t help but think this is related to the Republican aversion to the truth. The fact is, Trump has a history of generating indisputable anti-democratic statements and actions. And not just a few. There are so many I can see why Republicans, those that actually still maintain at least some slim grip on reality anyway, would realize the less people are reminded about any of them the better.
What follows is a list of egregiously undemocratic things Trump has done while he was president and in his post presidency. It is a partial list, encompassing those I can recollect and have been able to research in a couple of hours- the amount of time I set as a goal for wasting on this project. As usual, this is a personal exercise. I needed to compile the list for posterity. However, for anyone who actually thinks there is anything even remotley comparable in the way of undemocratic activity between the presidential candidates of the two major political parties, this list is for you too. Spoiler alert. I could not find anything Kamala Harris has done that would be comparable. And I would be surpised if you could unearth anything that any past president, Republican or Democrat, has said or done that is comparable to the volume of despotic behavior on this list.
TRUMP’S ATTACK ON DEMOCRACY
1 Instigated an insurrection
2 Asked VP to overturn election by rejecting votes
3 Tried to strip civil service protection from thousands of federal employees so they can be replaced by political employees (Trump’s schedule F)
4 Refused to commit to peaceful transfer of presidential power
5 Claimed mail in ballots “rig” an election
6 Fawningly praised authoritarian leaders of adversarial nations
7 Claimed elections might be fraudulent after, but just as consequential, months BEFORE
election
8 Suggested voters vote twice
9 Failed to disavow white supremacists and had lunch with white supremacists
10 Attacked his own citizens (eg: Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman)
11 Suggested political opponents be imprisoned
12 Suggested critics should be executed (Mark Milley)
13 Pressured the NOAA
14 Altered a hurricaine projection
15 Praised the assault on a reporter
16 Continuously called press the enemy of the people
17 Suggested on multiple occasions people of different races “go back where they came from”
18 Retweeted a “white power” video
19 Threatened to withhold funds for mail ballots
20 Threatened to withhold federal aid to combat wildfires happening in states with governors of opposing political party
21 Engaged in rank hotel profiteering, likely involving violations of the Emoluments Clause
22 Claimed a president has unrestricted power to do anything, including pardoning himself
23 Objected to make tax returns public
24 Joked about an attempted murder of a political opponent’s husband
25 Called protestors adversaries
26 Shut down the goverment for over a month when congress failed to aprove funding for a pet project (border wall)
27 Insisted party leaders block legislation for his own political gain (Immigration bill)
28 Was impeached twice
29 Is a conviced felon
30 Is a convicted sex offender
31 Asked foreign government to investigate the family of a political opponent
32 Fabricated stories and generated conspiracy theories denigrating minorities for political gain
33 Canceled network TV interview after he learned there would be fact checking
34 Lied over 30,000 times while in office
35 Complicated state hurricane disaster relief efforts by telling bold faced lies about FEMA funding and response.
36 Shifted FEMA funds to ICE for immigrant transportation to hearing locations for asylum seekers
Republican complaints about labeling Trump as a threat to democracy are ludicrous. Linking the charge to any assasination attempt is absurd. Stating actual fact is hardly as provocative as all the lies, insults, and hateful rhetoric we hear from Trump on a daily basis. He has done these things and Democrats have an obligation to remind the public of his excrable behavior. So many people are locked into their own information silos, or are politically disinterested, it is important to point out Trump’s threats to the republic at every opportunity in order to inform as many people as possible.
Below is an excerpt from the November issue of the Atlantic Magazine. In it is a quote from John Kelly, the retired Marine Corp general who served as Donald Trump’s second cheif of staff. He spoke about George Washington’s accomplishments and what his vision of an American president should be. The conversation took place at Mt. Vernon during a symposium about democracy.
From the article: Trump: Washington’s Nightmare
And then Kelly offered a simple three word summary of Washington’s most important contribution to the nation he liberated. “He went home,” Kelly said. The message was unambiguous. After leaving the White House, Kelly had described Trump as a “person who has no idea what America stands for and what America is all about.” At Mount Vernon he was making a clear point: People who are mad for power are a moral threat to democracy. They may hold different titles- even President- but at heart they are tyrants, and all tyrants share the same trait: they never voluntarily cede power.