The peaceful transition of power has been a hallmark of American democracy since the nation’s founding. Even the most bitter of rivals — John Adams and Thomas Jefferson — committed to the peaceful transition of power despite their differences, and set a precedent necessary for the survival of the American political system. We saw the first breakdown and flagrant rejection of this tradition with the presidency of Donald Trump. For the first time in our nation’s history, a president and his staunchest allies held a rally in which they encouraged and fanned the flames of an attack on the American government itself, so that their chosen candidate could remain in power. For the first time in our nation’s history, a president was impeached for inciting an insurrection against our own government. The magnitude of this moment will be analyzed for decades and centuries to come, and even now, living so close to the event, it’s hard to have historical perspective on how this event has and will shape American politics.

After losing the election, it became pretty clear that Donald Trump had gone off the deep end. His own cabinet contemplated removing him from office by invoking the 25th amendment, and social media companies banned his accounts for fear of further incitement of violence. All of this happened merely a year ago. It has been clear for many from the start that Trump was an unhinged buffoon, who was willing to destroy longstanding American principles and even institutions, if it meant having and maintaining power. Similarly, GOP desperation for power enabled an unqualified and impulsive moron to the highest office in the land, only to have some of them cringe and regret their decisions later. Is this the price of power? The wholesale destruction of democratic principles so your corporate donors can get a nice tax cut? The weakening of American institutions and violations of basic morals, principles, and laws at the highest level, because at least we don’t have the email lady? The Republican Party enabled Donald Trump to the point of insurrection, a stain that will forever be seared onto the party.

As America slowly begins its recovery from the Trump administration, more details are continuing to come to light about just how far the president and his lackeys were willing to go to actually undo the results of a democratic election, as well as the disturbing revelations regarding Trump’s actual state of mind. These revelations are not only alarming because the man who attempted such brazen feats not only held the highest office, but may very well seek it again. The party that enabled and excused an insurrection against the United States government, encouraged and celebrated by their own standard bearer, would do so again. There seems to be no answer to the question of what the modern Republican Party wouldn’t do to maintain its grasp on power. The fact that this question is unanswerable means that we are in dangerous and uncharted territory.

New Revelations

Since leaving office, a flood of information has been gradually coming to light about what was going on inside Trump’s administration, his state of mind and behavior, and a silent assault on American democracy that makes many of us wonder just what else there is that we don’t know about. Perhaps some of the more disturbing revelations took place towards the end of Trump’s presidency, as he became increasingly desperate to hold onto power. At this point, even some of Trump’s staunchest enablers and defenders, such as former Attorney General William Barr — who had gone along this far along on the “Trump train”— was starting to feel the magnitude of the dangerous path that Trump was charting the nation. In an interview with The Atlantic, Barr explained what was happening behind the scenes in his own words:

“If there was evidence of fraud, I had no motive to suppress it. But my suspicion all the way along was that there was nothing there. It was all bullshit.”

In the interview with The Atlantic, Barr revealed the confrontation that took place between him and Trump after Barr was quoted in The Associated Press as saying there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud. The exchange revealed between Barr and Trump really hit home on just how insane and unhinged the then occupant of the Oval Office was:

Trump brought up Barr’s AP interview.

“Did you say that?”

“Yes,” Barr responded.

“How the fuck could you do this to me? Why did you say it?”

“Because it’s true.”

The president, livid, responded by referring to himself in the third person: “You must hate Trump. You must hate Trump.”

The president of the United States, defying all reason, evidence, logic, and potentially even the law, was berating his own Attorney General for refusing to baselessly attack the results of the election and assist in his efforts to thwart the peaceful transition of power. And he was doing it by referring to himself in the third person, as if he was a Fox News host responding to a guest criticizing the president. This was the state of mind of the man who was leading the United States government.

This in addition to documents recently released that revealed Trump was exerting undue influence on the United States Department of Justice to actually reverse the results of the 2020 election. Trump was not just fanning the flames and trying to get attention, no, far worse, he was legitimately attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election that he lost. The White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, was directly funneling crackpot conspiracy theories to the Department of Justice, a tactic of throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks.

The newly released emails also highlight multiple conspiracy theories surrounding election fraud pushed by then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. On Dec. 30, 2020, Meadows emailed Rosen a translation of a document that alleged there was a plot in which U.S. election data was altered in Italian facilities and loaded onto “military satellites” and that Trump was “clearly the winner.”

This wasn’t your uncle sharing articles from Alex Jones on Facebook, this was the White House Chief of Staff, inundating the US Department of Justice with Facebook-quality garbage in an attempt to appease his boss and stop the peaceful transition of power for the first time in American history.

Going After the Press and Oversight

The extent to which Trump’s administration went to stifle and intimidate the press has also been recently revealed. Looking for leaks to the press about people within Trump’s orbit being in contact with the Russian government, Trump’s Department of Justice subpoenaed Apple for data on Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee, as well as their families.

It’s probably fair to say that even some of Donald Trump’s fiercest critics did not fully realize the extent to which he was assaulting American democracy, to which his state of mind is genuinely troublesome. A gag order was imposed on Apple that did not allow them to reveal that they were subpoenaed for such information until this year.

Not only were they going after Democratic members of Congress, similar subpoenas and gag orders were served to news organizations themselves, including CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Reminiscent of the rise of fascistic and authoritarian governments, the Trump administration pursued the free press and even targeted those responsible for congressional oversight in an attempt to quell their critics and conceal their questionable activities.

Reinstated

Questions about Trump’s state of mind have become even more concerning as the former president legitimately believes he will be reinstated as president by August, as he is telling people in private. If Trump actually won re-election it is mind-boggling to think where we would be as a country right now, and he himself has openly proclaimed that he is “entitled” to a third term. Imagine if Trump’s predecessor, President Obama, had announced to the world that he is entitled to a third term. The lunacy of Trump and the contempt he holds for the constitution and the rule of law should serve as an ominous warning to Americans: yes, it can happen here.

An unknown author wrote what is now an almost prophetic statement regarding fascism in America:

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

The point being that fascism operates under the guise of patriotism, as the history of Nazi Germany can attest.

What Happens Next

Undoubtedly, more revelations will come to light that will make us ponder just how much we don’t know. While Trump waged a very public war against democracy and democratic values, he also waged a silent one — seeking to stifle his opposition and stop the peaceful transition of power using the powers of the presidency. It is frightening that most Republicans still believe the election was stolen. Trump may be out of the spotlight, but Trumpism is still alive and well in American politics. Trumpism is a fascist and authoritarian ideology that pursues power at all costs. It is precisely why his values threaten American institutions and make a mockery of the United States constitution.

Alexander Hamilton, one of the most notorious founding fathers and the author of most of the Federalist Papers, gave a stark warning in a letter to George Washington, which was quoted in Trump’s second impeachment trial. Hamilton wrote to Washington:

When a man unprincipled in private life desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper, possessed of considerable talents, having the advantage of military habits — despotic in his ordinary demeanour — known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty — when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity — to join in the cry of danger to liberty — to take every opportunity of embarrassing the General Government & bringing it under suspicion — to flatter and fall in with all the non sense of the zealots of the day — It may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may ‘ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.’

In C-SPAN’s survey of historians and experts on the American presidency, Donald Trump ranked in the bottom five, an impressive feat. Ranked just above Trump was President William Henry Harrison, who died merely 31 days into office after catching pneumonia at his inauguration. He joins the ranks of President Franklin Pierce, whom sought to expand slavery; President Andrew Johnson, the first president to be impeached and who sought to undermine reconstruction after the President Lincoln’s assassination at the end of the Civil War; and President James Buchanan, who oversaw the secession of Southern states that ultimately preceded the Civil War. This is not a list you want to be on, and the commonalities should serve as a warning as Trump mulls yet another bid for the White House. Trump is out of office, but only for now. When again might we ride the whirlwind?