The taxicab picked up speed: Following the botched Mueller Report on Trump's "collusion" with Russia, and a failed attempt at impeachment, white nationalists, evangelicals, and other gullible souls came to believe that there really was a conspiracy at work. Clashes at the "Unite the Right" demonstrations of 2017 between white nationalist neo-Nazis and anti-fascists in Charlottesville, Virginia, provided a certain legitimacy for the radical right, especially when Trump insisted that there were "good people on both sides." His supporters were distraught by Republican losses in the Congressional elections of 2018. Disappointment turned to hysteria, however, when BLM took to the streets against institutional racism and police brutality in a nationwide protest of 15 million citizens.
An avalanche of publicity was accorded protestors fighting the "New Jim Crow," and it threw "White America" into a panic. As COVID spread amid the inactivity and confusion of Trump's administration, Midwestern and Southern militias multiplied, and extremists stormed the state government buildings in Wisconsin, Michigan, and elsewhere. Intimidation of officials became commonplace: homes were picketed, death threats were sent, and a plot was even uncovered to kidnap and then murder the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. The taxicab's tires were burning.
Bob Dylan was right: "It doesn't take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." With the presidential election of 2020 looming, Trump's Republicans went to work. Democrats mobilized as never before. The party's left and right wings came together in the battle against Trump. It was clear that the larger the turnout, especially among minorities, the better the chance of victory. Meanwhile, Trump began a publicity blitz accusing his opponents of corruption, treason, and voter fraud, although it was actually Republicans who tried to sabotage the postal service, reduce voting stations, highlight registration technicalities, oppose early voting, and throw out ballots. It didn't work, of course, and Joe Biden won the election by 81 to 74 million votes, and 306 to 232 electoral votes.
Sixty suits were filed by Trump's lawyers contesting the results, and sixty times they were thrown out of court. Recounts affirmed the original tallies. But supporters of the president were enraged. These legal decisions only demonstrated the power of the "deep state." The question for Trump was whether to accept reality or keep fighting the election results. His decision to keep battling called into question the democratic framework of the United States and, given the president's erratic stubbornness, the "peaceful transfer of power." As his Congressional supporters vacillated, Trump intensified his purge of "weak Republicans."
White nationalists and groups like the Proud Boys were delighted as the crowd gathered on January 6th for a march to the Capitol building. Many were armed, pipe bombs and home-made napalm were found, and bullets flew in the Capitol. Trump had been stoking the flames of violent rebellion since before Election Day with talk of a stolen election. As the attempted coup unfolded, he called upon the insurrectionists to "fight like hell," while Ivanka praised their patriotism, Donald Jr. threatened retribution against those who did not toe the line, and half-crazed advisors like Rudi Giuliani demanded "trial by combat."
Trump had already told his people to "lock and load," "stand down but stand by," and - regarding BLM - "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." Trump had cried voter fraud before, during his presidential campaign of 2016, which he expected to lose; he stopped when he won. Yet this time his lying about voter fraud was so incessant, his incitements to violence so intense, that he was ignominiously kicked off Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and most other major internet venues - after the uprising failed.
The taxicab was swerving. Public support for an embattled president whose claim to office rested on blatant lies was the dividing line among Republicans, and it kept moving ever more to the political right. Determining who is a real Republican rested on unwavering support for the president in a moment of crisis. Trump alternated between apoplexy and depression as many cabinet officials and former allies in the Senate and Congress hypocritically distanced themselves from their leader, denied any responsibility for anything, and jumped ship. Even Trump's thoroughly obsequious vice president, Mike Pence, spoke up by refusing to decertify the electors who would make Biden's victory official. He did not have the power to do so anyway, yet the president now vilified him in public. The gallows and noose erected outside the door to the Capitol building by the insurrectionists were apparently meant for him: Pence the "traitor." Thus, this taxicab crashed.
What now? Trump will depart the White House on January 20th, 2021, but impeachment is being planned, which would make him ineligible to run again, and there has been talk about removing him from office. As usual, however, there has been little reflection about broader issues at stake. For all the fear and disgust generated by the insurrectionists, this rebellion never constituted a threat to the state. Of course, real threats lie on the horizon. Limiting civil liberties - especially freedom of speech and assembly - is a temptation.
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