by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
So, I saw this on Twitter today and was immediately taken aback because now “normal” people are beginning to contemplate what I have for some time now: Trump is a transitional figure that will either cause a civil war or give us our first true autocrat.
I’m not saying this will happen, but if Rupert Murdoch decides to abandon Donald Trump that’s going to be a major opportunity for someone else in the GOP (desantis?) who could be theoretically even worse. Hard to imagine but this could end up being a nightmare scenario
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) June 11, 2022
The point is, as I’ve repeatedly written and otherwise ranted about, Trump is too stupid and lazy to be an autocrat. He’s all talk. Yes, should he become POTUS again in 2025, he will cause a lot of trouble and problems, but, in the end, it will probably be his Republican successor who is the real death knell for American democracy.
And, remember, Trump could very well just as start a civil war by being himself and “saying the quiet part outloud” as he could do anything else. In fact, I would say that’s the bigger Trump risk at the moment — he starts a civil war in 2024 – 2025 and we endup with some sort of National Divorce. (This could happen even sooner if Trump becomes Speaker in 2023 and he goes transactional on Truth Social, demanding Red states leave the Union in a ploy to pressure the Senate to convict Biden and Harris when they’re impeached.)
But back to the point — Trump doesn’t really matter anymore. DeSantis is the most obvious person to be our first American Autocrat, there are literally a dozen other would-be autocrats within the Republican ranks, waiting for their opportunity to do what Trump is too stupid and too lazy to do — end American democracy.
