Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America

Richardson describes how Donald Trump used business and reality television to manufacture an image of himself as “the Republican success story” (86). Trump “married Republican politics to authoritarianism” (87): a strict hierarchy of people in which he was the “best.” This rise paralleled authoritarianism in countries such as Russia, where Vladimir Putin long wanted to overturn the liberal consensus and interfere with the United States’ attempt to globalize democracy. 

In campaign rallies, Trump made “outrageous statements that reporters felt obliged to cover” (92), resulting in twice the media coverage of his Democratic opponent, Hilary Clinton. Trump won the Electoral College and presidency, though he lost the popular vote by almost three million. His inauguration speech described the country as a place of utter “carnage” and positioned himself as the only person who could fix it.

Prior to 2016, Republicans used divisive rhetoric and pointed attacks toward opponents to establish an “oligarchy,” not to create governmental “apocalypse.” In doing so, however, they unwittingly set the stage for someone to step into authoritarianism. Trump echoed “flat-out lie[s]” and “easily disprovable statements” the press would inevitably cover (95).