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The second Summit for Democracy taking place this week provides an apt opportunity to assess the state of our own democracy here in the United States. If we consider Jan. 6 to be the high-water mark for the anti-democratic movement, are we still in the flood stage? Let’s just say we’re under threat. The Justice Department has dutifully labored to hold accountable individuals and groups who planned and participated in the insurrection. The House select committee completed its probe, formally accusing Donald Trump of four crimes for his incitement of the attack, and Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation is said to be tightening. In the midterm elections, candidates who embraced the election denial that prompted the insurrection generally fared poorly. These are all good signs that the waters of anti-democratic extremism are receding. But looking ahead to 2024, Trump remains the favorite for the Republican nomination, trouncing the second-place finisher, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who’s arguably no improvement over Trump. On the Democratic side, President Biden has suggested he plans to run again, but so far, the 80-year-old has the support of only about a quarter of Democrats. Not exactly a strong defense. And we’ll need one if this guy manages to escape prosecution. What’s your 2024 hot take? Share it here. —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor
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After Nashville school shooting, Biden renews call to ban assault weapons —USA Today
Pence must testify to Jan. 6 grand jury, judge rules —The New York Times
Fire started in protest at Mexican migrant detention center kills dozens —The Wall Street Journal
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Can this democracy be saved?
Leaders from 120 countries, civil society groups, and technology companies are gathering virtually this week for the second Summit for Democracy. There’s been a bit of carping about it from the usual suspects, but even some democracy advocates are less than enthused. The key criticisms? Invitations to the summit are largely limited to countries that already buy into democracy; there’s no formal mechanism to hold participants to the modest commitments they make to advance democracy; the U.S.’s own problems make it a poor model; and the Biden Administration hasn’t been consistent in making human rights and democracy a focal point of its foreign policy. —Reuters
Democracy is struggling everywhere. A new report from the research institute Varieties of Democracy suggests that 72% of the world’s population now lives in autocracies, up from 46% in 2012, and Freedom House recently declared 2022 the 17th consecutive year of global democratic decline. “To mount a credible defense of democracy abroad, Washington and its partners would need to challenge authoritarian and authoritarian-leaning governments, not just bolster democratic reformers,” says Jon Temin, vice president of policy and programs at the Truman Center for National Policy. —Foreign Affairs
Fight fire with fire. Laura Thornton, a senior vice president at the German Marshall Fund, agrees. She points out that Russia, China, and even wannabe autocrats in the U.S. are “organizing and supporting one another, sharing tactics and resources,” including financial, technological, and operational support, with like-minded political parties, candidates, and movements around the world. Their goal is to weaken liberal international institutions and norms. “It is high time those who believe in democracy come together with the same level of organization, enthusiasm, and support for one another to defend a liberal democratic order,” Thornton says. —The Hill
All is not lost. To that end, the Summit for Democracy “is an important and rare moment to bring a large swath of the world together to unite for a common global agenda. It is critical not to misuse this moment or leave behind potential coalition partners,” says David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. “The Biden Administration can build a truly global coalition, establish a clear agenda not only on democratic governance but on a range of shared challenges, and start the fight back against impunity in a world overrun by it.” Amen. —Time
MORE: Birgitta Ohlsson: Political parties, imperfect as they are, remain vital to preserving democracy —The Hill
Wisconsin’s nonpartisan race seems anything but
Next week, Wisconsin voters will determine whether progressives or conservatives control their state Supreme Court in a race that could have huge ramifications for the whole country. Wisconsin is one of 14 states that elect their high court justices in nonpartisan elections. Sounds good, right? Maybe not. Former Justice Janine Geske says this spring’s contentious campaign has shaken her confidence in the idea that judicial elections can truly remain nonpartisan. “I’ve always been a big supporter of elections because I think it’s important for the candidates to be out and meeting people and going to small towns all over the state and listening to people,” Geske says. “But I think that's been outweighed by the money and the ads and the political pressure in this campaign.” Instead, she’s calling for state Supreme Court justices to be appointed, with voters later deciding whether to keep those justices on the court. —CBS News
MORE: Costly court race points to a politicized future for judicial elections —The New York Times
‘Greater Idaho’ might not be so great
Have you heard about what’s happening in Idaho? Last month, state lawmakers approved a measure to authorize talks about absorbing 11 Oregon counties into Idaho. Known as the “Greater Idaho” movement, the proposal would extend the state’s western border to swallow up roughly half the state of Oregon. Why? Because advocates believe Oregon’s rural, conservative voters would feel better represented by the Republican-led state of Idaho than the blue state of Oregon. Data shows, however, that the plan could result in some unintended consequences. It would immediately make Idaho older and more male—which could have significant effects on public services and the economy. Eastern Oregonians in publicly funded jobs might also be unpleasantly surprised to learn that Idahoans in the same jobs earn less money. Be careful what you wish for. —KOIN
MORE: Why eastern Oregonians say they’re fed up with the state —KGW
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Trump Sings a Song of Sedition
By Tom Nichols
Reprinted from The Atlantic
At his rally in Waco this weekend, Donald Trump stood at attention as a choir of jailed January 6 rioters sang an anthem of sedition, and media outlets barely blinked.
Almost 30 years after a cult leader caused a disaster in Waco, Trump rallied his own political cult—and the location cannot be a coincidence—in that same Texas city. The Waco tent revival featured the usual Trumpian cast of grifters, carnies, and misfits, including the fan favorites Mike Lindell and Ted Nugent. Most of the former president’s speech was, of course, about himself and his many grievances, and the crowd reportedly began to thin out somewhat early.
And yet, in Waco—the first rally of Trump’s 2024 campaign—Trump proved he is still capable of doing shocking things that once would have been unthinkable. As the Associated Press reported:
With a hand over his heart, Trump stood at attention when his rally opened with a song called “Justice for All” performed by a choir of people imprisoned for their roles in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Some footage from the insurrection was shown on big screens displayed at the rally site as the choir sang the national anthem and a recording played of Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
In other words: A former president, a man once entrusted with the Constitution’s Article II powers as our chief magistrate and the commander in chief of the most powerful military in the world, an elected official who held our survival in his hands with the codes to our nuclear arsenal, considered it an honor to be serenaded by a group of violent insurrectionists who are sitting in jail for offenses against the government and people of the United States.
Trump’s voice was not only featured on this song; he actually volunteered to provide a recording for it. I know that many people, after years of this mad-king routine, simply do not want to process anything with the words Donald Trump in it. I don’t blame you. But let’s not look away: In Waco, Trump embraced a creepy mash-up of the national anthem, “USA” chants, and his own voice, and then proceeded for some 90 minutes to make clear that he is now irrevocably all in with the seditionists, the conspiracy theorists, the “Trump or death” fanatics, the Vladimir Putin fanboys—the whole appalling lot of them.
And yet, a day later, the story of Trump standing at attention for the January 6 choir has begun to fade from coverage. How, you might wonder, is this not still on every news site, every broadcast? To be fair, the AP called it “an extraordinary display.” The New York Times called the playing of the song “a new twist.” Perhaps ironically, one of the most candid reactions came from Fox’s Brian Kilmeade, who called Trump’s use of January 6 footage at the rally “insane.” Many media outlets used a picture of Trump with his hand over his heart, as I have done here. None of that is enough.
A thought experiment might help. Imagine if, say, Barack Obama held a rally and stood at attention as a group of anti-constitutional rioters—perhaps people who had called for attacking police officers and lynching top officials of the United States—used his voice as a motif while singing from prison to honor him. You know exactly what would happen: That one moment would dominate the news cycle until the last star in the galaxy burned out. It would define Obama for the rest of his life. (If you doubt this, remember that Obama was caught on a hot mic telling then–Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he’d have more flexibility to negotiate after the 2012 election—a completely ordinary if somewhat unwise thing to say—and we had to hear about it for years.)
But we are worn out on Trump. We’ve simply packed all of his behavior into a barrel, labeled it as generic toxic waste, and pushed it to the side, hoping that someone will take it away and bury it far from civilization.
There’s another reason, however, we’re not ringing more alarm bells. Too many people are afraid of “amplifying” Trump, including media members who still insist on treating a violent insurrectionist movement as if it’s a normal political party. I have consistently argued for amplifying every traitorous and unhinged thing Trump says, but others have their doubts: Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at NYU, cited the disinformation expert Whitney Phillips to caution me that “sunlight disinfects,” but “it can also make things grow.”
I think this was a more pressing concern in 2016, when Trump was the beneficiary of the so-called “earned media” that can result from outrageous statements and stunts. I still think focusing on Trump and holding him accountable for his statements was the right thing to do, but I agree that too often during the 2016 campaign, he got away with being ridiculous, because he was not taken seriously enough as a threat to democracy.
In 2023, however, Trump is no longer a novelty. The man is a former president and a top candidate for his old job. Merely fact-checking him or tut-tutting about his “extraordinary” behavior would, I agree, “normalize” him, so let’s not do that. Instead, both journalists and ordinary citizens should ensure that everyone knows exactly what Trump is doing and saying, in all of its fetid and vile detail.
Moments like the Waco rally should be all over the news, for three reasons.
First, Trump fatigue is real, but the personality cult around Trump avoids it by cherry-picking what Trump says and does. Putting Trump on blast isn’t going to convert new people; if anything, we learned from Trump’s COVID press conferences as president that he does a lot of damage to himself by talking too much. People in his own party tried to get him to stop doing those bizarre performances, and he finally listened to them.
Second, Trump and his minions, especially elected Republicans, are experts at pretending that things didn’t happen the way we saw them. Ask a GOP official about Trump’s offensive statements, and you’ll likely get “I didn’t see that,” “I don’t read his tweets,” “I’ll have to check into that,” and other squirts of verbal helium. Media and citizens alike should hold those elected representatives and other officeholders to account. Ask them point-blank if they support what Trump said and if they will support him as the nominee of their party.
Third, we need to confront the reality that Trump is now on track to win the nomination yet again. In 2016 and 2020, I thought we were facing the most important elections in modern American history, but that was before Trump incited an insurrection and invited every violent kook in the nation to ride to his defense. Fine, I stand corrected: 2024 is epochally important. Trump has left no doubt that he is a violent authoritarian who intends to reject any election that does not restore him to power, that he will pardon scores of criminals, and that he will never willingly leave office. This should be said every day, in every medium.
If we are to walk ourselves back into an authoritarian nightmare, let’s at least do it without any pretenses.
Tom Nichols is a professor at the U.S. Naval War College and is the author of “The Death of Expertise” and “Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy.”
MORE: In Waco, Donald Trump parties like it’s 1993 —Texas Monthly
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Even more than January 6, 2021, Donald Trump is probably looking back wistfully to a day in June 1992—and hoping for a repeat in Manhattan.
That's the day busloads of supporters of another resident of Queens County, John Gotti, descended on the federal courthouse in Brooklyn to protest the sentencing that would imprison Gotti for the remainder of his life.
Cars were overturned. Police officers were injured and hospitalized. People were trapped in the courthouse before order could be restored. And shouts of “Free John!” echoed through the early summer air.
In fact, there is probably only one person who hopes more than Donald Trump that a similar outburst occurs in Manhattan.
Ron DeSantis. —Jim V., New York
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The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Renew America Foundation.
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