On a seemingly normal day, America witnessed a threat to democracy. As Joe Biden was gearing up to take office after a turbulent election period, a group of Trump supporters and white supremacists stormed the capital to show their dissent about the election.
In a situation like this, analysis of precursors is needed. The presidency of Donald Trump was an impactful one, good or bad depending on what group of people you belong to. For his entire campaign, he catered to the everyday American, promising to put America first and to “Make America Great Again.” Through obvious racism and dissent towards people of color, he would make off-handed comments in his speeches. Running as a populist, he won the office and started four years of fear and polarization in the US. White supremacist group Proud Boys rose to action under Trump’s presidency and went as far as to “stand back and stand by” as Trump said. The meaning behind this was that Trump wanted to regain the presidential position and to push the fact that the election, in his view, was rigged.
It is no secret that Trump was campaigning as more of a populist leader. The baseline for being a populist is differentiating between the “good” people and the “bad elite.” In the example of Trump, the “good” people were the white Americans that supported Trump, and the “bad elite.” were the apparent illegal immigrants stealing jobs from everyday citizens, Hillary Clinton (with Trump verbally attacking her and spreading misinformation), and social movements (such as Black Lives Matter). 2020 is a significant year as it was an election year with Trump running against Biden. 2020 also saw the rise of the BLM movement after the murder of George Floyd. All of this hate that seemed to be supported by Trump was a big precursor to the turbulence ahead with claims of a fraudulent election to the insurrection at the capitol.
It is important to understand the gravity of the insurrection. Not only was there $1.5 million in damages and over 700 arrests made in that one day, but the rhetoric itself was also dangerous. The groups who were at the forefront of this attack are well-known white supremacists. The feelings of the people involved in this insurrection included the aforementioned white supremacists as well as Nazi sympathizers. Their goal? Using fear and violence against politicians to gain control of the presidential seat. The United States has seen an event like this before such as the Civil War and several presidential assassinations.
Alongside all of this, Trump was encouraging racist behavior and extreme actions through his rhetoric. Combined with the violence of his followers, Trump was successful in chipping away at American Democracy. He campaigned as a populist, ruled as an authoritarian, and left disgraced and desperate. Under Trump, America became polarized and moved further away from democracy.
The aftermath of the insurrection proved to be moving the country even further away from the foundational ideas of democracy as polarization continues to grow in the US. Even though not in office anymore, those appointed by Trump still have influence in the laws passed today. Examples such as the Dobbs decision (which overturned Roe v. Wade and took away abortion rights) show that basic rights are still being taken away, something that was in effect when Trump was still in office. Two years later we watch Biden’s government scramble to find answers and give justice to those affected (especially by the Dobbs decision). Our current president and many Democrats are facing pressures from the GOP, and the people are gearing up for another important election. January 6, 2021, was just the beginning of a new era in America, one full of questions, polarization, and fear of the future of American government.
The insurrection almost destroyed the peaceful transfer of power. The reason why this is important in a democracy, especially in America, is because it is a formal way of giving the office to the new president, and officially giving them the power to listen to the people’s voices. It is upholding the Constitution and keeping the promise to act in the ways outlined. Alongside the threat to peace and the Constitution, the divide and political polarization became worse. In recent years, Republicans have been passing bills to hinder more freedoms. Republicans putting pressure on Democrats makes it hard for them to vote against bills. Red states have also been prosing on bills hindering access to abortion clinics and gender-affirming care (these are some of the biggest examples) for their states. While polarization existed before Trump’s presidency, the action against the fairness and peace of a democratic election made the polarization worse. All of this put together created a threat to democracy itself, showing that citizens do not seem to care about fairness anymore and turn to violence to get what they want. The insurrection of January 6th has changed the way America views democracy and shows that democracy is under threat.
Hello Anoushka Yadav, I agree with the key point of this narrative—the January 6 insurrection does represent a critical juncture in US democracy. It was a product of distrust fueled by entrenched social and political cleavages across society and Donald Trump’s incendiary speech. Furthermore, the erosion of civil liberties, such as Roe v. Wade, shows the lasting impact of Trump’s presidency.
What I think is interesting to look further examine is how these issues shape the divisions and contrast among candidates of the 2024 GOP “primary polls” (in quotations because Trump is the likely winner without even meeting any of the candidates in the debate stage). The debate points, although not directly related to deciding whom to vote for, demonstrate the extent to which Trump influences the GOP and how other GOP candidates are reluctant to be highly critical of him, as seen with DeSantis and Vivek.
Polarization is both a cause and an effect of further democratic erosion.