![]() It’s going to be very hard for any Republican lawmaker to work with Biden if a large number of Republican voters think he stole the election. By poisoning political discourse with his racism and conspiracy theories, he’s making it impossible for his successor to escape the trap of immobility. He failed to do that and quickly retreated to paranoia and scapegoating (which already characterized his style of politics). Trump rose to power partly on the claim that as an outsider he could shake up Washington and make deals across party lines. That is, from Obama’s time in office after the midterms of 2010 to Biden’s time after the midterms of 2022, we’ll have had virtually no legislation dealing with any of the challenges of the day and a lot of executive orders that temporarily change things and then get undone by the next president.”īut Trump’s demagoguery is itself both a product of this gridlock and a contributor to even more paralysis. “Assuming the Democrats don’t win the Senate seats in Georgia, we are going to reach the end of 2022 having endured 12 years of political immobility. “What we’ve learned over the last decade-and what Trump’s bombast allowed many liberals and the left to avoid-is how much our political institutions constrain action,” Robin points out in the Jewish Currents interview. One reasonable response to these facts would be “What does it matter if Trump and his followers can’t accept reality?” The proper rejoinder is that Trumpian demagoguery deepens the crisis of American democracy that long predates Trump: political paralysis due to polarization. And to judge by polls, he’s dragged millions of Republicans into this alternative reality. It’s precisely because Trump can’t win victories on the field of legislative battle that he’s welcomed the creation of a fictional alternative reality where he is constantly victorious. Trump’s legislative weakness and his unhinged demagoguery are connected. He’s refused to accept the legitimacy of his clear electoral defeat and has egged on outlandish moves to overturn the results. He’s nurtured the QAnon conspiracy theory. He’s mainstreamed racism and given his stamp of approval to violent groups like the Proud Boys. He’s denounced the press as “the enemy of the people” and incited violence against reporters and political foes. In his capacity as quasi-monarch, Trump has acted in deeply unsettling ways. With his focus on legislative achievement, Robin gives short shrift to the rhetorical side of the presidency.Īn American president is both head of government (like a prime minister in other regimes) and head of state (like a monarch). It’s a necessary corrective to flabby liberal and leftist chatter about incipient fascism.
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