Summary
Donald Trump’s recent rhetoric and actions suggest he may be preparing not just for an election, but for a “slow-motion coup.”
Despite being seen as an electoral liability for Republicans, Trump has primed his followers with narratives of stolen elections and positioned 2024 as an existential battle. This approach parallels far-right populist movements worldwide, where loyalty is signaled through belief in conspiracy theories.
With ongoing lawsuits, targeted claims of “non-citizen” voting, and support from some judicial figures, Trump’s strategy hints at an attempt to disrupt and delegitimize the electoral process if he loses.
And also that for democracy to survive, you need to win every time, whereas they only need to really win once in order to establish dominance.
It’s not an even battle, not by a long shot.
I hear you that it’s tiring and intimidating dealing with fascists. That said I don’t think it’s factual to say they only need to win once, and believing so creates a strategic disadvantage.
Factually, world war 2 is the classic example of fascists needing to win continually and being unable to do it. The Nazis had a good showing in an election, Hitler was made chancellor and then they used that foot in the door to take over the government and seize many countries. But they lost in the end, and that was a result of resistance, not just militarily but the sum of every individual act of opposition.
There’s a concept of anticipatory obedience. Corporations and local governments sometimes fell over themselves to do what they thought the fascist government would ask before the actual ask. Even if Trump seized power, that wouldn’t be the end. They need us to cooperate. And by resisting in a concrete way (not just #resist posting of course) we will stop fascism.
It’s never over. Fascism is destined to lose. It’s a question of how much suffering and injustice can we avoid by defeating it sooner.
And believing like they want us to believe, that it’s all over, is a strategic disadvantage. If we believe we’re beaten or that victory is impossible we’ll act that way. Believe that we can win, and spread that belief, and we’ll act that way.