To answer Trump’s question of whether we are better off than four years ago depends on whom you listen to. Trump’s media has made it clear: We are worse off. According to normal metrics, we are in a better place. And I credit President Biden.
But that is almost inconsequential because Trump is perpetrating great damage. He is behaving like the autocrats he admires.
It has its tentacles deep in his refusal to concede in 2020. That alone has eroded the core ideal of a constitutional republic – that it is the will of the people that shapes our government. Trump has so tortured how we see elections that, no matter the results, he will declare himself the winner. The voice of the people is not just disposable but can be manipulated to suit one man’s desires.
As is the way of autocrats, Trump is sabotaging our two-party system. He has made every person who is critical of him the enemy – “vermin” who must be “rooted out” – despite party affiliation. His congressional base sabotages our system of debate and compromise by hijacking Congress. Only one voice counts: Trump’s.
Trump has pushed nationalism. That is clearly apparent in his messaging that immigrants are “invading” us and “poisoning the blood” of America. And members of his base nod their heads, repeating almost verbatim his narrative, as they gird their loins for battle if Trump loses. That is not how a democracy works, and it tragically makes us far worse off than four years ago.
Jo Trafford
Portland
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