Frogs Continue to Ignore Rising Temperatures

Yesterday, Time magazine published an in-depth interview with Donald Trump titled “How Far Trump Would Go.” Notice that the title is not a question. It’s a definitive statement.

Last November, we discussed this topic in a piece I wrote called “Frogs Boiled: What Trump is Planning for a Second Term.” I wrote it when we first learned that Trump had posted his plan for a second term, Project 2025, online and that it was deeply concerning. Trump means to end democracy, and this new piece in Time, which is lengthy but deserving of your time, confirms that conclusion.

Project 2025 is available online for all to see, billed as “Building now for a conservative victory through policy, personnel, and training.” The website reveals the Project is coordinated through the conservative Heritage Foundation, helmed by three smiling white men and inviting people who land there to sign up so they can stay in touch.

We’ll be unpacking the details of the Project over the next weeks and months and analyzing how and where Trump, the born opportunist, intersects with the conservative agenda. This Friday night, our guest for “Five Questions” will be Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a noted expert on authoritarianism, and we will begin our study of Project 2025 with her. In the coming weeks, we’ll look at the Project’s plans for “taking the reins of government” and their vision for executive branch agencies, as well as for components of government that make up the intelligence community. They have plans for regulatory agencies as well as for agencies that impact “general welfare,” the economy, and “the common defense.” There’s a lot there.

Some of this, to be clear, is about traditional conservative policy. Other pieces—like the idea of transforming the ranks of career public servants into party loyalists—are disturbing. And over it all lingers the question: how much worse do these cold policy prescriptions look in Donald Trump’s hands?

Today, at a rally in Wisconsin, Donald Trump acknowledged that he wanted to go to the Capitol on January 6. He told the crowd that after he left the January 6 rally on the Ellipse, he asked his Secret Service driver to take him to the Capitol. He did this while he was apparently trying to diminish Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified to this in her House January 6 Committee hearing. Now, Trump himself has confirmed it. “I sat in the back. And you know what I did say? ‘I’d like to go down there.’ … They said ‘Sir, it’s better if you don’t.’” Secret Service agents have disputed Hutchinson’s claim that Trump lunged for the wheel in an effort to force the wheel to take him to the Capitol. Trump has not confirmed that. Yet.

A second Trump presidency would be minus the guardrails, such as they were. He’s been explicit about that. The Time piece is based on two interviews with Trump and conversations with more than a dozen of his “closest advisers and confidants.” The author concluded that Trump was planning for “an imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world.”

The article starts off with a truly disturbing list of the norms Trump is openly saying he intends to violate. He’s not being coy. There’s no pretense of intent to be a democratic leader:

• Trump would remove more than 11 million people from the country, by means including building migrant detention camps and deploying the military at the border and across the country, a clear violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. The Act is a Reconstruction-era law that bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement except when expressly authorized by law.

• Trump would permit red states with restrictive abortion laws to monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate bans. Have you seen the ad with two young women in a car trying to escape Alabama to get medical care, only to be stopped by law enforcement as they approach the border? That’s Trump 2.0.

• Remember when Trump tried to withhold much-needed security aid from Ukraine to get President Zelensky to fabricate a corruption investigation into Joe Biden? According to the story in Time, Trump “would, at his personal discretion, withhold funds appropriated by Congress” as a political tactic. No word on who he’d try to blackmail into doing his bidding with this. And it’s easy to imagine that the flow of funding to blue states for disaster relief, education, infrastructure, and just about anything else could be hijacked to suit Trump’s purposes.

• Trump would fire any U.S. Attorney who failed to prosecute individuals at his direction. The criminal justice system would be a tool to be used at Trump’s whim, the hallmark of a banana republic.

• Trump would consider pardoning the people involved in the January 6 attack on the Capitol, including more than 800 who have pled guilty or been convicted. Among them are members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, who were convicted of seditious conspiracy.

• Trump won’t commit to aiding an attacked ally in Europe or Asia if he thinks that country isn’t paying enough for its own defense.

• Trump would gut the civil service, the career ranks of federal employees who, despite being much maligned, carry out the day-to-day work of government, in many cases with decades of expertise. Their frequently unnoticed presence will be deeply felt if they are removed.

• Scientists say climate change means the likelihood of more frequent pandemics. Trump’s response? He would close the White House pandemic-preparedness office.

• And, of course, there will be loyalty tests for anyone who wants a job in the administration. Only those who believe the 2020 election was stolen need apply.

This laundry list of authoritarian proposals is culled from interviews with Trump and his people. It’s not conjecture or spin. It’s what they are saying out loud. But far too many people aren’t listening. Polling done by long-time Democratic pollster Geoff Garin last March concluded that only 31% of a modeled sample of voters, even though it excluded those who had previously voted for Trump or believed the 2020 election was stolen, were aware of some of Trump’s most outrageous statements.

The poll focused on voters who weren’t firmly established in Trump’s base and were “getable” by Biden. The survey sample was unaware Trump had said he wanted to be a dictator on day one of a new presidency or that he had ranted about immigrants, who he maintained are “poisoning the blood of our country.” People were unaware Trump intends to pardon January 6 rioters. They were also unaware of threats to prosecute Biden and other “vermin” who have opposed Trump.

Too many voters don’t remember and aren’t paying attention. It was one thing before Trump was crowned as the official nominee of the Republican Party. Now that he is, it’s critical that Americans have accurate information about who he is. Neither the article in Time or Project 2025 are Democratic spin. It’s not a witch hunt. It is from Trump’s mouth.

The voters who are undecided, not sure they’ll vote, or unconcerned need to know all of this. But they don’t. Trump’s worst expressions of authoritarian intent have flown largely under the radar screen. Liz Cheney recognizes that. During an event in Connecticut last March, she said, “I will do everything I can to make sure [Trump] is never anywhere near the Oval Office again.” She was up front about the fact that meant reelecting Joe Biden, who she disagrees with on policy issues. But Cheney said a Biden win was essential to save the country. That’s the message we need to share with people in our circles.

We know how this works. People believe trusted sources: their friends, coworkers, neighbors, and family. So, it’s time for you to share information with the people around you. Tell them what Trump is saying about how he will conduct himself during a second term in office and what his plans are for the country. Give them copies of material to read or read portions out loud to them. Since Trump is committed to violating so many of our democratic norms, there is something to share with everyone, whether it’s withholding funding from blue states and foreign countries, dehumanizing pregnant people, using the military to enforce his plans domestically, or anything else on the laundry list of horribles. Make sure those in your circle understand that Trump intends to transform the country from a democracy into a dictatorship.

Garin’s poll concluded that there was some good news embedded in it for democracy. When people being polled were presented with accurate information about Trump, they understood he was out for revenge and dangerous, even dictatorial. The gains in understanding were statistically significant. It’s one thing to see it in a campaign ad, but another to discuss it with a close friend. There are many voters and potential voters around us who are not firmly wed to Trump but still need facts to be persuaded that he must not be reelected. The information about Trump’s intentions bears repetition and emphasis, and we all have an important role to play. Let’s get to work.

Thanks for being with me, here at Civil Discourse. If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll consider subscribing. You can do that for free or sign up for a paid subscription, which helps me devote more time and resources to this work. Never doubt the importance of hundreds of thousands of people engaging in civil discourse in their communities.

We’re in this together,

Joyce