Trump is now promoting "the false charge that the Biden administration is persecuting Christians," Sarah Posner says (MSNBC, January 7) — which, like the big lie about the election, is "designed to immerse his loyalists in a grievance-laden alternative reality in which Trump alone can rescue them from an evil government threatening their freedom." He wants "to deflect attention from his own criminal liabilities" and suggesting that the Biden administration is "similarly persecuting religious Americans." In his 2024 campaign, he has just promised (in his words) "a new federal task force on fighting anti-Christian bias to be led by a fully reformed Department of Justice that’s fair and equitable." The words "fair and equitable" of course mean nothing here. He's going to destroy the Department of Justice, rebuild it as a shell of its former self, and make a task force to push Christian theocracy.
So now there's a video Trump likes which has this narration:
"And on June 14th, 1946, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, 'I need a caretaker.' So God gave us Trump. God said, 'I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, fix this country, work all day, fight the Marxist, eat supper then go to the Oval Office and stay past midnight and a meeting of the heads of state.' So God made Trump."
The NYT says on January 5 (subscriber gift link) that, through the House Education and Workforce Committee, chaired by Representative Virginia Foxx:
"House Republicans are now embarking on an aggressive and expansive investigation into institutions of higher education in America, targeting the academic elites they have long viewed as avatars of cultural decay — all in the name of combating antisemitism."
Obviously, it never has been, and is not now, about combating antisemitism. The very same Republicans lightly pretending to care about combating antisemitism are the ones who overtly contribute to it.
As the NYT article notes: the Republicans "helped create" this "political moment" and are taking advantage of it. Yes, but a little more pointedly: Republicans often say the opposite of what they mean. They tell Group A that they care about them and are only opposing Group B, they tell Group B that they care about them and are only opposing Group A, meanwhile the contradiction is reported but Republicans don't stop what they're doing because they don't go by facts nor are they ashamed by their own hypocrisy and therefore sunlight does not disinfect them, and they empower themselves to continue.
If we allow the Republicans to continue with their racism, antisemitism, homophobia and transphobia, we will get more of that. If we let them remove the guardrails of democracy, we will see more wrecks on that highway. We will see ever-worse power grabs.
Trump has long argued that he can do whatever he likes. See: Seth Meyers's sketch, January 2024, video (2:34–3:45).
Brian Klaas on The Garden of Forking Paths (Dec. 29, 2023):
"Donald Trump has pledged to become a dictator 'on day one.' He proudly boasted that voters most anticipate that a second Trump term will bring 'revenge' and 'dictatorship.' Trump recently vowed to shoot shoplifters, give the death penalty to drug dealers, and called to execute America’s top general. He’s planning to search for, round up, and deport millions of undocumented migrants—and again echoed the worst dictators in history when told his baying supporters that immigrants were 'poisoning the blood of our country.'"
The main problem with the proposal to shoot shoplifters isn't the hypocrisy of it, but as a bonus, it is indeed hypocritical. (Bluesky)
On January 9, Trump "claimed there’d be “bedlam' in America if he was denied a return to the White House as a result of the multiple ongoing criminal prosecutions against him," HuffPost reported. This could be intended by Trump, or heard by others, as a call for violence. But also:
"Trump has 'used that word [bedlam] throughout his whole career any time the system comes at him in a way he doesn’t like,' said O’Brien, who wrote the 2005 biography 'TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald,' which called into question the billionaire status of the then-businessman.
'When [then-New York City Mayor] Ed Koch refused to zone a piece of property Trump wanted on the West Side, he said, ‘There’s bedlam in New York, I couldn’t get zoned,’' O’Brien recalled."
'He has no sense of proportion,' O’Brien added. 'And he’s got no sense of civility or the rule of law. So he’ll simply say, ‘It’s chaos,’ because I’m not getting what I want.'"
We're all becoming desensitized. This is how it happens. The former US president is ***threatening another coup if he loses and it's not even news***.
— Brendan Nyhan (@brendannyhan.bsky.social) May 2, 2024 at 8:12 PM
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Alyssa Farah Griffin said that Trump said Pence "deserved it when there were ‘Hang Mike Pence’ signs [during the attack on the Capitol]. He alluded to Gen. Milley should be executed. He, in a meeting I was in in the Oval Office with a dozen other staffers, said that an aide should be executed for leaking something negative about him."
— Ex-Trump Aide Reveals 'Scary' Moments He Wanted People Killed: Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin described a frightening behind-the-scenes incident. Ed Mazza, HuffPost, Jan 11, 2024
On January 10, Trump "suggested that it would be 'not so bad' for him to focus on retribution during a second term," adding he expected that he might not "have time" for it. (HuffPost)
Dictator for one day? No, it wouldn't just be one day. His agenda is large. For example, Russian assault on Europe would last more than one day.
Trump at a Feb 10 rally (HuffPost):
“NATO was busted until I came along,” he began. “I said, ‘Everybody’s going to pay.’ They said, ‘Well, if we don’t pay are you still going to protect us?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ They couldn’t believe the answer.”
He rehashed the story a few moments later.
“One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘Well sir, if we don’t pay and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?’ I said, ‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’ He said, ‘Yes, let’s say that happened.’ No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want,” Trump said.
“You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills,” he added.
* * *
It is not clear whether the scenario Trump described actually happened. Trump frequently takes credit for supposedly pressuring other NATO members into contributing more funding during the course of his first term.
The narrative doesn't make sense, as each member nation is supposed to spend 2 percent of its own gross domestic product on its own military and is obligated to treat any attack on on member nation as an attack on all. The NATO goal is for each member nation to have a significant military, not for each member nation to "pay" its "bills."
Nick Paton Walsh:
"NATO is not an alliance based on dues: it is the largest military bloc in history, formed to face down the Soviet threat, based on the collective defense that an attack on one is an attack on all – a principle enshrined in Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty.
It’s [a] purpose which suits the US profoundly: The White House invoked Article 5 after 9/11. And since NATO’s creation, US might has been often packaged globally as the expression of a dozens-strong consensus. NATO helps bolster the US’s ebbing position as the sole hyperpower. Strip away this vast alliance, and its diplomatic and economic might, and the US looks quite lonely on the world stage.
In short, the US will almost certainly always spend much more than anyone else on its military, regardless of its allies. NATO gives it a global bedrock of legitimacy, support for the dollar, and the post-Soviet hegemony it thrives upon."
Paton Walsh continues: Trump is "persistently trying to derail vital aid to Ukraine. If the desired $60 billion does not arrive, or is delayed much longer, it will have an irrevocably detrimental impact on Ukraine’s practical defenses at the frontlines, political cohesion in Kyiv, and nationwide morale."
"...the lack of a guarantee of American support massively undermines NATO’s effectiveness. It calls into question the alliance’s cohesion and therefore its existence.
Trump knows that. He is not simply saying the US won’t help NATO allies who haven’t paid. He is saying he would encourage Russia to attack, invade, inflict the horrors of Mariupol upon US allies."
— Nick Paton Walsh, "Trump’s incendiary NATO remarks send very real shudders through Europe," CNN, Feb 12, 2024
Donald Trump Says Local Police Will Play Key Role In His Mass Deportation Plan: The front-runner in the Republican presidential primary contest said he would give officers immunity to carry out his plan. Marita Vlachou, HuffPost, Mar 1, 2024
Christian dictator?
Trump isn't personally religious, but the Christian right-wing continues to throw all its support behind him.
Reported by POLITICO ("Trump allies prepare to infuse ‘Christian nationalism’ in second administration," Alexander Ward and Heidi Przybyla, February 20, 2024):
"An influential think tank close to Donald Trump is developing plans to infuse Christian nationalist ideas in his administration should the former president return to power, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.
Spearheading the effort is Russell Vought, who served as Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget during his first term and has remained close to him. Vought, who is frequently cited as a potential chief of staff in a second Trump White House, is president of The Center for Renewing America think tank, a leading group in a conservative consortium preparing for a second Trump term."
Although "the documents obtained by POLITICO do not outline specific Christian nationalist policies," they did obtain a list of priorities that include "Christian nationalism," as well as (in POLITICO's words) "invoking the Insurrection Act on Day One to quash protests, and refusing to spend authorized congressional funds on unwanted projects, a practice banned by lawmakers in the Nixon era."
Vought is an advisor to Project 2025. He has suggested that eligibility to immigrate to the US should depend on whether someone has “accept[ed] Israel’s God, laws and understanding of history.” He "has a close affiliation with Christian nationalist William Wolfe, a former Trump administration official who has advocated for overturning same-sex marriage, ending abortion and reducing access to contraceptives."
"In his rambling 75-minute speech, Trump delivered his most thorough articulation of his vision of white Christian nationalism to date..."
— "In Speech to White Evangelical Broadcasters, Trump Lays Out His White Christian Nationalist Vision," Robert P. Jones, March 18, 2024
On March 26, Trump is selling a Bible printed together with the U.S. Constitution. Bluesky
Pro-insurrection, anti-abortion
For the Colorado ballot eligibility question that went to SCOTUS, Jonathan Mitchell was Trump's lawyer at the Feb 8, 2024 SCOTUS hearing. Mitchell was behind the Texas law that offers a $10,000 bounty for reporting anyone who helps someone get an abortion. NY Times
On April 8, Trump "declined to support any new national law setting limits on abortions." In other words, leave it to each state to decide. The next day, showing just what can happen when you leave it to each state to decide, "the Arizona Supreme Court ... resurrected an 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions, except to save the life of the mother. The law also imposes penalties on abortion providers." ( — Dan Balz)
Or, as the HuffPost put it:
"'Many states will be different, many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative than others and that’s what they will be,' Trump said in a Monday statement. 'At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people.' In our current dystopian post-Roe landscape, Trump hopes 'leave it to the states' will get him the most votes ― a supposed middle ground or compromise on abortion."
However, HuffPost continues, neither the decision by the Arizona court (near-total ban) nor the one by the Florida court (six-week ban) is "the will of the people. It’s the will of a handful of conservative judges cherry picked by anti-choice Republicans. (The same goes for the IVF decision in Alabama last month.)"
Then, on April 10, Trump said "he won’t sign a national abortion ban if elected in November — but cleared up nothing about whether he or his appointees would implement a backdoor ban." (HuffPost)
Christian Nationalists are predicting that Trump will be (or perhaps that they can persuade him to be) increasingly on their side:
"A former White House official and prominent fundamentalist Christian said Donald Trump is 'cloaking' his actual, 'radical' beliefs on the campaign trail, and that a second Trump administration would see him 'govern in a more conservative and more aggressive fashion.'
William Wolfe ― a self-described 'Christian nationalist' who served under Trump as a deputy assistant secretary of defense at the Pentagon and as director of legislative affairs at the State Department ― made the remarks Thursday [April 11, 2024] during a conversation on X Spaces, a live audio chat room on the platform formerly known as Twitter. Wolfe was among half a dozen panelists convened by editors at The Sentinel, a far-right digital media outlet, to discuss Trump’s stance on abortion." (HuffPost)
Wolfe made the comments in the context of anti-abortion legislation. The HuffPost article continued:
'I actually think there’s wisdom in cloaking some of your power levels and maybe some of the things that you’re trying to do, and then once you secure power, and you have it, you govern in a more extreme position,' Wolfe said. 'I think Trump is one of the first Republican candidates I’ve ever seen in my lifetime who has done that.'
'Power levels,' a popular term in online far-right and white supremacist circles, refers to the degree of a person’s extremism or radicalization. It’s most often used when discussing the need to 'hide your power levels' while infiltrating mainstream conservative and Republican organizations."
Wolfe is not just 'some guy' with opinions.
"Wolfe has intimate knowledge of at least one person heavily involved in shaping Trump’s potential second-term policy agenda. As reported by Politico, Wolfe has close ties to Russ Vought, president of the Center for Renewing America, a MAGA-aligned think tank that’s part of the consortium behind Project 2025, a blueprint for a radically conservative second Trump administration.
Wolfe was a visiting fellow at CRA, and also worked alongside Vought at Heritage Action, another conservative policy advocacy group. 'I’m proud to work with @William_E_Wolfe on scoping out a sound Christian Nationalism,' Vought tweeted in January 2023."
GOP Rep. Scott Perry Flip-Flops On Whether He Backs A National Abortion Ban: The Pennsylvania conservative says he opposes such a ban — but he’s been sponsoring legislation to impose one for the last seven years. Jennifer Bendery, HuffPost, Apr 27, 2024
What Biden can do
Eugene Robinson suggests in the Washington Post (January 8, 2024) (emphases mine):
"The [Biden] campaign can make better use of the Democratic Party’s most effective messengers. Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison skillfully led the party through the midterm election, reducing a predicted red wave into a pinkish ripple. Stacey Abrams’s brains and energy in registering new voters helped make Democrats competitive in Georgia — one result being the election of Sen. Raphael G. Warnock, whom the party should be touting as a rising star. Biden’s team should turn to the likes of former Obama administration official Julián Castro to try to keep Latino voters in the Democratic fold, too."
Keep reading
American history to explain ‘How did we get here?’ It's my article on Medium. Paying members can read it.
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