The nonchalance with which too many mainstream media outlets have treated the revelations of how close the country came to a self-coup would perhaps be *somewhat* justifiable if Trump were fully ostracized from politics and society.
At this point, Trump must be considered the clear favorite to be the Republican Party’s next presidential nominee: The base wants him, GOP elites stand with him - even supposedly “moderate” ones like Nikki Haley -, Trumpism is rapidly becoming the Republican orthodoxy.
Conservative intellectuals are either all in on Trumpism (the Claremont Institute types, for instance); or claim to be loathing Trump the Man while absolutely supporting Trump the Politician who promises to shut up the Libs (the religious conservatives like Dreher, Ahmari…).
That doesn’t mean there’s no friction on the Right. The self-proclaimed nationalist conservatives are basically ready to break with the Reaganite consensus and end the fusion of traditionalism and libertarian anti-statism, no longer believing it serves their reactionary project.
And Steve Bannon wants to purge everyone who’s not unabashedly white nationalist, having no patience for any kind of even purely rhetorical / tactical adherence to the existing system - and I’m sure the far-right militias agree that it’s time to go all radical, all the time.
But none of that seems to undermine Trump’s position - at the very least, no alternative to Trump has emerged that could seriously fracture the Right. Trump is their man, Trumpism their credo. He’s the chosen vessel to deliver the victory over the despised leftist enemy.
Considering all that, it should absolute be a big freakin deal that this guy who leads the Right and dominates the Republican Party had concrete plans to stage a self-coup, fake national emergency and all, and effectively end democracy in America right there and then!
If someone can stage an assault on the system like Trump did, and continue to attack and undermine the system in every conceivable way, and then just go on to lead one of the major parties, probably become a presidential nominee once again, democracy is unsustainable.
If the institutions that are tasked with upholding democracy and sustaining a democratic political culture do not possess the strength and/or will to mount an effective defense against Trump now, it will soon be impossible to halt the accelerating slide into authoritarianism.
The Republican Party has made its choice; the conservative movement has made its choice; the American Right has made its choice: They all stand with Trump, they have chosen Trumpism over democracy.
Now everyone who prefers democracy has to make their choice too. And quickly.
It’s not just the Democratic politicians. Every newsroom has to make a choice. Every journalist has to make a choice. Everyone who has any kind of public platform has to make a choice.
America is at a crossroads. The time to choose is now.
But could it really happen here? It is happening right now.
American democracy is on the brink, and if we want to save it - want to eventually, finally realize the promise of a functioning multiracial, pluralistic democracy - we have to acknowledge that these are the stakes.
There has been a ton of attention lately for Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation-led planning operation for a more efficient, more ruthless rightwing regime - peaking in reaction to Trump pretending he doesn’t know anything about it, which is an obvious, brazen lie. 2/
Public attention is necessary: In a very real sense, these plans are on the ballot in November. However, it’s also turned “Project 2025” into a bit of a catchall term - when we should be precise about what it tells us about Trump’s role and about the Right more broadly. 3/
Trump is not the mastermind behind Project 2025. It’s worse: The rightwing establishment has radicalized to the point where their plans are entirely in line with his vengeful desires.
My new piece (link in bio):
🧵1/
I wrote about the relationship between Trump and Project 2025, between the inner circle of MAGA world on the one hand and the institutional and intellectual elites of American conservatism on the other: A radicalizing alliance against democratic pluralism. 2/
Donald Trump lied when he declared he had nothing to do with Project 2025 and knew no one involved in the operation. Not exactly shocking, I know. But there is something more interesting and revealing going on here than just habitual lying. 3/
I took a deep dive into the “Promise to America” Heritage president Kevin Roberts has offered in his foreword to the "Project 2025" report: It perfectly captures the siege mentality, self-victimization, and grievance-driven lust for revenge that are fueling the Right's plans. 2/
Kevin Roberts is not a moderate imposter who pretends to be hardcore so that he can blend in with the MAGAs because that is the direction the wind is blowing. He is a reactionary Catholic and part of the Religious Right – a true believer in the reactionary political project. 3/
An argument I’m trying to make here is that a second Trump term would be worse not only because the radical Right would be better prepared, but also because they would be operating under much more favorable circumstances.
With a much more extreme Supreme Court, for instance.
Back in power, the radical Right could count on a reactionary supermajority on the Supreme Court - something they didn’t have during Trump’s first term.
Today’s disastrous, truly extreme immunity ruling should be an urgent reminder of what an absolute game-changer that is.
Additionally, this would not be the same Right that came to power in 2017. That starts with Trump himself. The idea that he has always been the same, just Trump being Trump, is massively misleading and obscures the rather drastic radicalization of the Right’s undisputed leader.
I wrote a three-part series about the worldview of the people behind “Project 2025,” the policy agenda and detailed plans it has produced, and what all this tells us about the radicalization of the American right.
It is difficult to convey how much establishment conservatism has been taken over by anti-democratic extremism.
“Project 2025” is actually helpful in that sense: Rightwing leaders are maximally clear about the reactionary vision they want to impose on the country. 3/
I got to talk to @chrislhayes about “Project 2025” on his #WITHpod
If you want more, I wrote a three-part series on the Right’s radical plans to use government as an authoritarian tool to impose a reactionary vision on America. Some thoughts:
Part I focuses on the worldview of the people behind “Project 2025.”
They see themselves as noble defenders of “real America” against a totalitarian “woke,” “globalist” assault. “Project 2025” is their declaration of war on multiracial pluralism: 2/
In his foreword to the "Project 2025" report, Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts offers his “Promise to America”: It perfectly captures the escalating siege mentality, self-victimization, and grievance-driven lust for revenge that are fueling the Right's plans. 3/