Why aren't we talking about Trump's fascism?

Joe Biden has created a distraction from the existential question that should define this election.

Advertising Policy Donald Trump participates in the CNN presidential debate at CNN studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The 2024 presidential election, like the previous two, comes down to a simple question: Should the United States remain a representative democracy or become a right-wing autocracy? Unfortunately, the crucial debate we should be having about Trump’s fascism was derailed by Joe Biden’s terrible performance in the June 28 debate, which made Biden’s ability to continue as a candidate the most talked-about topic in politics.

Donald Trump’s authoritarianism, which culminated in 2021 with his refusal to accept the peaceful transfer of power and his incitement to revolt against Congress, is well known. It has not receded over time, but has only worsened. On Monday, the New York Times published an article with this shocking headline: Trump Amplifies Calls to Imprison Top Elected Officials, Invokes Military Tribunals.

According to the article:

Former President Donald J. Trump stepped up his pledge to prosecute his political opponents this weekend, posting messages on his social media site invoking televised military tribunals and calling for the imprisonment of President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senators Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer and former Vice President Mike Pence, among other prominent political figures.

Mr. Trump, using his account on Truth Social on Sunday, promoted two posts by other users of the site that called for the imprisonment of his perceived political enemies.

A message he released Sunday targeted Liz Cheney, the former Wyoming congresswoman who is a Republican critic of Mr. Trump, and called for her to be prosecuted in a type of military tribunal reserved for enemy combatants and war criminals.

While the prospect of Dick Cheney’s daughter wearing an orange jumpsuit and locked up in Guantanamo Bay may provide some wry amusement to those who enjoy historical irony, Trump is threatening not just the politicians he has appointed, but the rule of law itself. And these threats are not just rhetorical. Thanks to the Supreme Court’s massive expansion of the scope of presidential immunity (which now encompasses anything that can be considered an official act), if he returns to the White House, Trump would be free to commit crimes on a scale not seen since the golden age of the divine right of kings. As my Nation colleague Elie Mystal noted in his ably explicating the decision:

Consider the now classic example of a president ordering Seal Team Six to assassinate a political rival. By the logic of the Republicans on the Supreme Court, this would likely be an official act. By their logic, there is also no way to prove that this act is unofficial, because any conversation the president has with his military advisers (where, for example, the president explains to them why he wants to assassinate a particular person) is official and cannot be used against them.

Trump would be empowered not only by the judges he himself appointed in his first term, but also by the Republican Party and the conservative movement that are increasingly under his influence. As The Nation and other publications have extensively documented, Trump’s second-term agenda, prepared as part of Project 2025 by right-wing think tanks like the Heritage Foundation, involves a full-scale attack on the safeguards of American democracy, such as the neutrality of the civil service. Trump and his political allies are preparing to reshape the federal government so that it ceases to be a bureaucracy with rules and norms and becomes instead a plaything of their whims.

Celebrating the Supreme Court's expansion of presidential immunity, Heritage Foundation CEO Kevin Roberts said on July 2 that we are living through the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.

Current problem

Neither Trump’s threats of violence nor Roberts’s terrifying prediction that Trump will lead a new American revolution are getting the attention they deserve. Some liberals blame the media, saying they are over-emphasizing the issue of Biden’s age at the expense of more important stories.

But the story of Biden’s aging is actually entirely legitimate. It’s foolish to deny what more than 50 million Americans saw with their eyes and ears during the debate. It’s a fact that Biden faces calls to withdraw his nomination from elected Democrats, major donors, major media outlets like the New York Times, and ordinary citizens.

On Wednesday, Biden met with Democratic governors to reassure them that he was up to the task of president and campaign leader against Trump. According to the Times, Biden said he needed more sleep. He repeatedly referred to working too hard and not listening to his team about his schedule, and said he needed to work fewer hours and avoid events after 8 p.m. When asked by Hawaii Gov. Josh Green about his health, Biden said he was fine and that it was just my brain. While it was a joke, not everyone who heard the quip found it comforting. It fell into the worrisome category of a truth told in jest.

There’s no shame in an 81-year-old man needing to cut back on his work hours and get more sleep. We’re biological creatures, and aging is a natural part of life. But Biden has a particularly demanding job that will only get more intense as the campaign heats up. If Biden needs more rest, the easiest way to do it is to quit his current job.

Biden's remarks to governors are expected to provide strong support for efforts to oust him as president now and for Democrats to make Vice President Kamala Harris their nominee.

Imagine if Biden could sleep as much as he needed in retirement, while President Kamala Harris led the charge against the fascist threat of Trump. Imagine if Kamala Harris held rallies and gave daily interviews explaining to the public what Project 2025 is and what Trump is threatening to do to Republican and Democratic lawmakers. Imagine if President Harris did what President Biden has failed to do in recent months: make the public understand what is really at stake in the 2024 election.

In such a scenario, the United States would get the election it deserves, one in which it could clearly repudiate a would-be dictator. But until Biden steps down, this clearly democracy-focused campaign cannot be launched.

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Jeet Heer

Jeet Heer is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation and host of the weekly podcast The Time of Monsters. He also writes the monthly column Morbid Symptoms. The author of In Love with Art: Francoise Moulys Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman (2013) and Sweet Lechery: Reviews, Essays and Profiles (2014), Heer has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The American Prospect, The Guardian, The New Republic, and The Boston Globe.

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