Donald Trump is already planting the seeds of the next insurrection

Politics / August 16, 2024

Uncertain and facing defeat, the former president returns to a familiar scenario.

Mocking Trump as weird is a summertime treat, while it lasts. But if he continues to prepare his supporters for insurrection, stronger warnings will be needed. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

Donald Trump is a sinister clown, one who actively seeks to seize authoritarian power. Ridiculous even at his worst, Trump is not always taken seriously. His most absurd statements often contain implicit threats that are difficult to grasp, because the listener’s first instinct is to mock him for his detachment from reality.

Last Sunday, Trump posted a typically dishonest message on Truth Social, claiming that a photo showing Kamala Harris being greeted by a large crowd at the Detroit airport was a fake image generated by artificial intelligence (AI):

Did anyone notice that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was no one on the plane, and she did it, and showed a massive crowd of so-called supporters, BUT THEY DON'T EXIST! She was exposed by a maintenance worker at the airport when he noticed the fake crowd photo, but there was no one there, which was later confirmed by the reflection in the mirror finish of the VP's plane. She is a CHEATER. NO ONE was expecting her, and the crowd looked like 10,000 people! Same thing happens with her fake crowds at her speeches. This is how Democrats win elections, by CHEATING – and they are even worse at the polls. She should be disqualified because creating a fake image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE. Anyone who does this will cheat at EVERYTHING!

I must confess that when I first read this post, my first instinct was to see it as simply a manifestation of Trump’s insecurity, which has understandably increased since Kamala Harris took the lead in the polls in the election. While this insecurity is undeniably visible in Trump’s words, there is also an alarming and threatening undercurrent. As in 2020, when Trump was also trailing in the polls before losing the election to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Trump is preparing for his supporters to violently contest an electoral defeat.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders echoed this element of Trump's strategy. In a statement released Tuesday, Sanders wrote:

Donald Trump may be crazy, but he is not stupid. When he claims that no one showed up to a 10,000-person Harris-Walz rally in Michigan that was livestreamed and widely covered by the media, that it was all AI, and that Democrats cheat all the time, there is a method to his madness. Clearly, and dangerously, what Trump is doing is laying the groundwork for the election results to be rejected if he loses. If you can convince your supporters that the thousands of people who attended a televised rally don’t exist, it won’t be hard to convince them that the election results in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and elsewhere are false and fraudulent.

Trump's “Social Media Truth” post is part of a larger pattern in which he makes false claims intended to undermine the legitimacy of the election.

An NBC News report linked the Truth Social Post to two other examples of Trump claiming that an illegitimate system is cheating to deny him the presidency:

Trump has said in recent days that President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race, motivated by Democrats’ fears that he would lose, was unconstitutional. It’s not. The Constitution says nothing about nominating a party.

On Thursday, Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that Judge Juan Merchan, who is scheduled to sentence him next month on serious crimes in New York, is using a partial gag order to prevent him from speaking to reporters during the campaign. The limited order allows him to speak to the media as long as he doesn’t attack the families of court officials.

Current number

In an article published in Gzero Media, journalist Stephen Maher drew attention to Trump’s attacks on Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (who resisted Trump’s 2020 attempt to overturn the election results in that state) and Trump’s praise for election officials who are willing to do his bidding. This also fits into a pattern of preparation for another attempt to overturn the election results. Maher reports: Democrats and independent election analysts believe he is preparing to systematically challenge the results if he fails to win the Electoral College in November, using a combination of procedural disruption, legal challenges, and, if necessary, January 6-style violence.

The renewed interest in Trump’s election denialism presents both an opportunity and a challenge for Harris’ campaign. On the one hand, election results since 2020 have made clear that the memory of the Jan. 6 insurrection hurts Republicans. Fictional personal grievances don’t play well on the campaign trail, political consultant Matthew Bartlett told NBC. Telling voters who voted against you in 2020 that the election was stolen is not a welcome message. It was political poison in the midterms and it could be political suicide for Trump in the general election.

Harris has had remarkable success in reframing the familiar argument that Trump is a threat to democracy by presenting it in a comedic way and emphasizing that Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, are weird.

The lighter tone has served Harris well, allowing her to present herself as a happy warrior who is above Trump’s sleaze. The bizarre line also irked Trump. At a news conference Thursday, Trump was asked if he would heed calls to stop his personal attacks on Harris. Trump responded: “I’m angry at her. I have no respect for her. She attacks me. She called me weird.”

This strange argument makes Trump look small. The question, however, is whether this strange label will suffice as the election approaches if Trump incites another insurrection. To repel another insurrection, Democrats will have to work to protect many institutions, including state election officials and the courts. Simply belittling Trump, while entertaining and politically effective, will not be enough. It will have to be replaced by a return to the old argument that Trump is an existential threat to American democracy.

The current mood among Democrats, one of mockery and good humor, may be just a temporary summer treat. It’s likely that in the fall, Harris will have to sound the alarm in a more alarming way, reminding voters that Trump is not just a clown. He’s also a dictator in the making.

Can we count on you?

In the upcoming election, the fate of our democracy and our basic civil rights will be at stake. The conservative architects of Project 2025 are plotting to institutionalize Donald Trump's authoritarian vision at every level of government should he win.

We’ve already witnessed events that fill us with both dread and cautious optimism. The Nation has been a bulwark against misinformation and a champion of bold, principled perspectives. Our dedicated editors have spoken with Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders, picked apart J.D. Vance’s shallow right-wing populist appeals, and debated the path to a Democratic victory in November.

Stories like these and the one you just read are essential at this critical moment in our country’s history. Now more than ever, we need independent, insightful, and well-researched journalism to make sense of headlines and separate fact from fiction. Donate today and join our 160-year legacy of telling truth to power and giving voice to grassroots activists.

Throughout 2024 and what will likely be the defining election of our lifetimes, we need your support to continue publishing the insightful journalism you rely on.

Thank you, The Nation Editors

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.

More articles from The Nation

A conversation with the Mayor of Chicago about his vision for progressive governance and the City Council's vote calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Questions and Answers / John Nichols

A conversation about MAGA activism and strategies to protect democracy.

Questions and Answers / Laura Flanders

The GOP has desperately tried, unsuccessfully, to divert public attention to other issues.

Sacha Abramsky

The US president's foreign policy choices in the Middle East and Ukraine have been disastrous. Harris must make a decisive decision.

Amed Khan

Hey, can we go back to the days when a bunch of supposedly intelligent people made one of the most patently ridiculous political arguments of all time?

Joshua A. Cohen

They were celebrating a historic reduction in Medicare prices, but they were actually showcasing their partnership again.

Joan Walsh

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: cgurgu@internetmarketingcompany.BizWebsite: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos