On January 6, 2021, the United States was attacked by the insurrectionist brigades of the former reality TV game show host who was decisively defeated for reelection as president six months ago. But the insurrection led by Donald Trump did not end on that day. In defiance of reality, Trump is continuing to wage war against American democracy. He has still never conceded defeat. To the contrary, he stubbornly insists – without a shred of evidence – that the election was stolen from him and that he is the “legitimate” president/dictator.
The depth of Trump’s delusion has created a black hole at the center of the American galaxy. The support he commands from his cowardly Republican confederates in Congress is near total. And the GOP voter base is blindly adhering to the fables told by the Trumpists.
Trump is savoring the cult-like adulation of his devotees. He giddily posted the results of an Ipsos/Reuters poll on his mostly ignored blog that showed 53% of Republicans “believe Donald Trump is the true President.” A new poll by Quinnipiac augments that data with a survey that found that 66% of Republicans would like to see Trump run for president in 2024. Never mind that the same poll poll reported that “Overall, two-thirds of Americans (66 – 30 percent) say they do not want to see him run.” And set aside that the poll also had Trump floundering at 37% favorable.
Even more relevant is the mathematical reality of these poll results. Since the Republican Party currently represents about 29% of the electorate, 53% of that means that Trump’s support among the population at large is a measly 15% at best. That’s hardly enough to win a national election. And considering that Trump already lost the popular vote twice, his prospects for the future appear dim.
However, Trump’s dismal political future doesn’t mean that he can’t continue to have a destructive impact on society. His disciples are a a determined and hostile lot. A survey by PRRI asked Republicans whether they agree with the QAnon doctrine that “the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation.” Nearly a quarter of them (23%) said that they do. And 28% said that they also believe that “true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.”
This does not bode well for the stability of American democracy. Despite these treasonous cretins being a distinct minority, they are also fanatical and armed. And their obedience to QAnon and Trump is being intensified by right-wing media. The Quinnipiac poll found that 40% of Newsmax and One America News Network (OANN) viewers, and 18% Fox News viewers, are among the QAnon believers.
Just imagine what will happen if Trump decides to run again in 2024. With his prospects of victory almost nil, the stage will be set for a reprise of the January 6th Capitol riots. Trump would surely repeat his baseless claims that that election was stolen from him too. How far would his faithful go to crush the democratic will of the people then?
The only answer to that question is that we must never find out. Trump and his comrades must be held accountable for their crimes and punished accordingly long before the 2024 election cycle begins. If the Justice Department and the state attorneys general do their jobs, we’ll be able to avoid another wingnut uprising. If not, we’ll be in big trouble.
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How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.