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Arotrios ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

Boosted and upvoted for reprinting the text on the Fediverse.

I don't see this as being a winning tactic for Trump. He simply doesn't have the support from the power-brokers he did in 2016 - he's pissed off his wealthy donors and cost them too much money and power, both through grift and his glaring ineptitude in office. He will likely win the primary, but his chances in the general election are slim. He won't win the popular vote (again), and the electoral college landscape is less welcoming than it was seven years ago.

That being said, it's pretty clear that Trump realizes this. When you have both the institutions of the state and the financial backers in your party turn against you, no amount of populism can save you. He probably figures that he might as well go down "fighting the man", as it's unlikely at this point that surrender would provide him a better set of consequences than going out in a blaze of narcissistic glory.

This is where the real danger lies - after the election, when he's lost and has that brief moment as the dust settles before he's sent to jail, that's when he'll go nuclear, and you'll see him call not to "stand back and stand by", but to go to war.

Lemmylefty ,
@Lemmylefty@lemmy.world avatar

While I don’t believe we’re anywhere near out of this yet, I don’t think he’d be anything like 2016 Trump if he loses again. At that point he’s lost twice (unfortunately probably to Biden again) and his supporters are filled with rage and vengeance but they also want a winner.

It could certainly get scary in a “American Troubles” kind of way, but if he stays out of the White House, I see his followers peeling away to shack up with DeSantis and other, newer goons to get their authoritarian fix.

As for jail, I think it depends: if he’s convicted snd sent to federal jail while losing the election, I think Georgia’s state level charges have a 50-50 chance of extending that stay, since I doubt ye’d be jailed for life. If the federal conviction fails, the state charges are much more likely to get dropped.

Arotrios ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

Agreed, unless something changes, I don't see his level of support increasing to a point where he'd actually be able to mobilize a force large enough to begin a true civil war on the occasion of his loss.

That being said, given the virulence and fanaticism of the extremists in his cohort, I can see him advocating violence to the point where domestic terrorism becomes a daily part of American life, much like mass shootings have.

I'm not so much worried about him winning as the damage he'll do when he loses.

Lemmylefty ,
@Lemmylefty@lemmy.world avatar

…can’t believe that I haven’t made this mental connection yet, but this was how the KKK came about: following a disastrous attempt at gaining power by violence from the duly elected by an increasingly radical segment, the losing party engages in acts of terrorism to try to bring the lesser-thans back into line by fear.

Arotrios ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

Excellent point, and thanks for illustrating the historical precedent. Interestingly enough, it was Superman who eventually broke the Klan, and it looks like he's been gearing up to do again.

Here's hoping the next issue will have him fighting MAGATs.

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