"For Trump and his cronies, the prospect of losing power could prove to be catastrophic because of their reasonable fear of being held accountable for criminality that dwarfs Trump’s first term. Unlike January 2021, [Trump & Friends] will have new tools to carry out a coup."
1/
1/
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1946959356043378915
"Six months into the second Trump administration, two things are becoming clear: First, the president remains a nearly entirely non-strategic actor, motivated only by an abiding desire to accumulate ever greater power, adulation, and wealth."
2/
2/
"And second, he’s fundamentally changing the nature of the United States in ways that threaten to bring an end to the nation’s 249 year old status as the world’s leading democracy."
3/
3/
"Despite Trump’s consistently haphazard 'governance' style, it’s becoming easy to foresee how his regime could effectively void our democracy. The now fully MAGA-fied GOP is increasingly likely to lose the next presidential election after incurring losses in the midterms."
4/
4/
"And as the nation learned before and following the 2020 election, Trumpists are more than willing to use force and other extra-legal actions to attempt to cling to power."
5/
5/
"From its outset, Trump 2.0 has been grounded on systemic illegality and unilateral executive actions, a course of (mis)conduct the administration has succeeded in pursuing because of pliant GOP majorities in Congress the Supreme Court."
6/
6/
"It’s all but certain that the administration’s authoritarian conduct will grow in scope and intensity over the succeeding months, in no small part because the GOP reconciliation bill will hand over a staggering $170 billion to the Department of Homeland Security."
7/
7/
"The bill includes nearly $30 billion in new 'enforcement' funds. DHS boasts that it is already the largest federal law enforcement agency, with over 80,000 officers.... But DHS says it plans to use the new funding to quickly hire 10,000 more more ICE thugs."
8/
8/
"The bill also includes $45 billion for expanding detention facilities comprised of both government and privately contracted facilities, meaning DHS is working with a jail budget that far exceeds that of the federal prison system."
9/
9/
"With this cash infusion, the US for the first time will have a massive federal police force with its own rapidly growing concentration camp system, with a reach that extends directly into the nation’s largest states and municipalities."
10/
10/
"We do not have to wait to find out how ICE and other agencies will conduct themselves within the US, and particularly in blue states.... Just look at what began as a quasi-occupation of LA County and has now expanded to encompass large swathes of the state of California."
11/
11/
"With his mélange of ICE, FBI, DEA and — importantly — military agents and troops, Trump has finally succeeded in creating what he longed to establish during his first term: A huge, domestic militarized force answerable only to him and his cronies."
12/
12/
"Trump is frequently described as a 'populist' leader, but few pundits address the definition of the term.
Hitler and Mussolini were populists who took power without democratic mandates and quickly destroyed institutions."
13/
Hitler and Mussolini were populists who took power without democratic mandates and quickly destroyed institutions."
13/
"Trump’s approval on immigration, his signature issue in the 2024 race, has taken a huge tumble into negative territory, with as many as 51 percent of voters disapproving the gratuitous brutality and performative sadism they’ve witnessed in recent months."
14/
14/
"Trump is losing the most ground with the independent voters who often determine the outcome of elections — his current disapproval rate among this critical cohort is nearly 61 percent."
15/
15/
"Likewise, his approval rating among Hispanic voters...has descended [to a] negative 26.
All of this is predictably leading to a corresponding decline in Trump’s approval rating in several of the swing states that allowed him to prevail last year in the Electoral College."
16/
All of this is predictably leading to a corresponding decline in Trump’s approval rating in several of the swing states that allowed him to prevail last year in the Electoral College."
16/
"[C]onsidering that the GOP has devolved into little more than a personality cult — it’s all but certain that the 2026 midterms (assuming they are remotely free and fair) will be determined by the electorate’s souring view of Trump’s governance."
17/
17/
"There’s also increasing reason to believe that voters’ opinions of Trump’s regime will be even more negative by November 2028...because the policies Trump is pursuing are both increasingly unpopular and wildly destructive."
18/
18/
"Trump talked a big game on the campaign trail about lowering costs for consumers.
Instead, his economic 'policies' [are an] irrational tariff regime and the expansion of tax cuts [for] the very rich, paid for by slashing healthcare coverage and food support for [the poor]."
19/
Instead, his economic 'policies' [are an] irrational tariff regime and the expansion of tax cuts [for] the very rich, paid for by slashing healthcare coverage and food support for [the poor]."
19/
"Particularly if the midterms turn out badly for the GOP, Trump and his cronies will inevitably begin to fear the consequences of a loss at the polls in the next presidential election and to consider their options."
20/
20/
"Given the already massive scale of criminality in the Trump regime from the White House on down, Trump and all of his cronies have even more reason to be concerned about the prospect of being held to account."
21/
21/
"Trumpers may consider ensuring the victory of Trump’s designated successor in 2028 to be...a matter of self-preservation.
As anyone who lived through January 6 remembers, Trump and his cronies have already shown themselves willing to attempt to hold on to power illegally."
22/
As anyone who lived through January 6 remembers, Trump and his cronies have already shown themselves willing to attempt to hold on to power illegally."
22/
"[B]y pardoning the J6 insurrectionists en masse, Trump took a major step toward legitimizing right-wing coup schemes....
[It is] likely that in the wake of an 2028 electoral loss, Trumpists will take every step available to them to maintain control of the White House."
23/
[It is] likely that in the wake of an 2028 electoral loss, Trumpists will take every step available to them to maintain control of the White House."
23/
"But by then, Trump and his crew will have new tools at their disposal, including a beefed up ICE that will include large phalanxes of masked thugs—a ready and willing militarized federal police force ready to back them up [instead of] a ragtag array of right-wing tourists."
24/
24/
"[T]he danger of...a massive, non-law-abiding federal police force could extend far beyond immigration.
Congress has just handed the coup leader in the White House new and dangerous tools to use in their next attempt to overturn the nation’s democracy once and for all."
25/End.
Congress has just handed the coup leader in the White House new and dangerous tools to use in their next attempt to overturn the nation’s democracy once and for all."
25/End.
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