What Happens From Here?

Instead of Trump’s name as a footnote in the annals of American history, he is back in full swing with a landslide victory over Kamala Harris. Millions of Americans are waking up this morning in fear, as they see Trump as a dangerous autocrat whose unprecedented behavior threatens the very fabric of American democracy. On the other hand, there are millions of others waking up who see him as a crusader, fighting passionately to save America from a corrupt political establishment. He is glorified by many as the only person who can restore America to its exceptional glory, while vilified by many as a morally repellent narcissist who, if he can benefit from it in some way, has no problem leading the march toward the erasure of our democratic institutions.

Before I dive in any further, I should note that I refrained from voting for either Harris or Trump as I find both morally unconscionable, in that their attitudes toward immigrants are obscene, their indifference toward the climate crisis is tragic, and their unremitting support of Israel’s brutal massacre in Gaza is one that no sane conscience should tolerate. In addition, my political, economic, and social visions of reality are far from what the Republican and Democratic parties — the business parties of America — represent. I am in full favor of a complete overhaul of American politics, one where we actually have legitimate third and fourth-party contenders. After all, both political parties in the US receive exorbitant amounts of donations from corporations and the ultra-rich. This system is wholly undemocratic and clearly does not represent the interests of ordinary Americans.

What has always disturbed me most is the unwavering support Trump receives from his followers. There is, without question, a deep-seated cult of personality surrounding him. It is as if he is a holy savior who can do no wrong. Everyone who is not in support of Trump is a victim of the “woke” establishment — victims who want to crucify the savior, but if they weren’t so confused and woke, they would understand his cause and bow at his feet. But this is rather astonishing considering the character of the savior. Let’s not forget that this is a savior who, in 2017, said that Haitian immigrants “all have AIDS” at a meeting with his staff in the White House. This is a savior who referred to El Salvador and African nations as “shithole” countries. This is a savior who pushed the false narrative that Haitian immigrants are eating cats and dogs. This is a savior who said that Senator John McCain was not a war hero since he was captured as a POW. This is a savior who literally tweeted about nuclear warfare. This is a savior who conspired to generate counterfeit electors in states that he lost in hopes of these electors casting fraudulent votes in the Electoral College. This is a savior who, above all, attempted to thwart a peaceful transition of power after losing the election. I could continue to go on and on, but it would take me hours to unpack the vulgarities of this savior.

In the years to come, I do expect Trump to attack some of the constitutional checks on his power. I also predict that America will start to mirror Hungary in very intimate ways. While at Johns Hopkins University, I wrote my graduate thesis on Hungary’s democratic backsliding. What I discovered rather quickly is how easy it is for a country to lose sight of its democratic principles. In fact, in recent years, democratic backsliding has prompted serious concern about the state of democracy. More than a quarter of the world’s population now live in democratically backsliding countries — one of the most prominent and disturbing countries being that of Hungary. Under the leadership of Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, its democratic institutions have undergone significant erosion and, as a result, democratic backsliding has taken root. Democratic backsliding can be understood as the state-led debilitation or elimination of any political institutions that sustain an existing democracy. In other words, shifts in state posture toward autocracy repress democratic standards such as free and fair elections, peaceful transitions of power, freedom of speech, press, association, and other fundamental democratic standards that are degraded through the process of backsliding.

Since the 2010 parliamentary election, which witnessed the conservative nationalist party Fidesz emerge overwhelmingly victorious, Orbán has swiftly passed copious amounts of legislation, including a new Constitution. Orbán made reforms to the electoral system to maintain Fidesz’s oversized parliamentary majority and also committed encroachments on media, individual rights, and liberties. Furthermore, under Orbán’s leadership, the rights of vulnerable communities have been demonized as “the other.” In a similar vein, Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election result and remain in power unlawfully, pressuring election officials to falsify the results, keeping classified documents, and then blatantly lying about all of it. Interference with the electoral process is among the most serious charges since Trump was actively trying not only to challenge democracy, but to overturn it. Like Orbán, Trump has also employed vicious language toward immigrants, culminating in them feeling completely alienated.

Hungary’s government views immigrants and even refugees as a problem because they contribute to the degradation of Hungarian national identity. In fact, Fidesz spoke about refugees entering the country in negative terms, “tarring refugees and immigrants with the same brush as terrorists.” “We do not believe that everyone who comes from there is a terrorist, but we do not know, nobody can say, how many terrorists have arrived with the migrants so far…Even one terrorist is too many,” Orbán said enigmatically. During a 2015 interview, Orbán proceeded to say, “Anyone who brings masses of unregistered immigrants into the country from the Middle East is importing terrorism, crime, anti-Semitism, and homophobia into the country.” Orbán also installed barbed-wire fencing along the border to prevent migrants from the Middle East and Africa from entering Hungary.

Orbán and Trump share very similar language. At a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump claimed that the United States has no more room for immigrants. “Our country is full. We do not want people coming up here,” he said. Moreover, he has referred to Mexican immigrants as rapists, terrorists, and murderers, and if elected, he plans to carry out a massive deportation of undocumented immigrants that would tear families apart even further. Trump even hosted Orbán at the White House on May 13, 2019, and said, “Viktor Orbán has done a tremendous job in so many different ways. Probably, like me, a little bit controversial, but that is ok… and I know he’s a tough man, but he’s a respected man. And he’s done the right thing, according to many people, on immigration.” The similarities between the two are hard to miss. They are both personally disdainful of constraints on their power and the free press (Trump’s VP, JD Vance, has even encouraged the federal government to investigate an anti-Trump journalist. “We really need to be really ruthless when it comes to the exercise of power,” he said.) In addition, like Orbán, Trump has shaped much of his political career around anti-immigrant populism — which is, of course, grotesque. But it is a particularly helpful strategy as it instills extreme fear within the populace. After all, if you want to secure votes, scare the populace about some imminent threat that you — and only you — can ameliorate.

Whatever happens in the next four years is yet to be known. However, I do hope that Trump leads our country and the broader world in a positive direction, but given this exposition, it is hard to say that with confidence. At the end of the day, electing Trump really exposes the rotting core of American politics. Is there really no one better than him? Even Harris, is there really no one better than her? We have got to recapture not only our political wisdom fast, but our humility as well, or else we are doomed for the foreseeable future. We can do much better.

Democracies give way to tyrannies when mob passion overwhelms political wisdom and a populist autocrat seizes the masses. But the tyrant is not quite a tyrant at first. On the contrary, in a democracy the would-be tyrant offers himself as the people’s champion. He’s the ultimate simplifier, the one man who can make everything whole again.—Sean Illing