In the last week of this election season, the Republican Party is running two different campaigns. One of them is an ugly and angry but traditional political initiative. Donald Trump and other Republicans are making speeches; party officials are trying to win votes; money is spent in volatile situations; Television and radio advertisements are proliferating. The people running this campaign are focused on winning the election.

We got a look at the other campaign last night at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This is the campaign that is psychologically preparing Americans for a second attack on the electoral system on January 6 if Trump does not win, or an attack on the political system and the rule of law if he does. Listen carefully to the words of pundit Tucker Carlson, who was fired from Fox News in part for his role in lying about the 2020 election. While warming up the crowd for Trump, he mocked the idea that Kamala Harris might win: “They look at us and say, ‘You know what? “Kamala Harris got 85 million votes because she is the first Samoan Malaysian ever elected president, impressive as the low-IQ, former California prosecutor.”

“Samoan Malaysian” was Carlson’s way of mocking Harris’ mixed-race background, and “low IQ” is also self-explanatory — but “85 million” is actually the number of votes she could win. And how could Carlson suggest there could be such a “swell of public support” for a person he disparaged as mulatto, incompetent, and stupid? The answer was clear: It can’t happen, and if anyone says it does, then we object to it.

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It’s all part of the game: the Trump campaign’s high confidence despite inconclusive polls; recent decision to take the island out of the swing states of New York, New Mexico and Virginia because we have this in our bag (and not because it’s getting harder to fill arenas in Pennsylvania); Republicans exaggerate early voter numbers, although there is no evidence to suggest these are new voters, just people who are no longer deterred from voting early. Additionally, many initiatives have been undertaken across the country. remove large numbers of people from rolls; many claims, without any justification, “Illegal immigrants” vote or even, as Trump implied in the September debate, that illegal immigrants are deliberately brought into the country to vote; Vance’s declaration He said he would accept the election results as long as “only legal American citizens” voted.

At Madison Square Garden, Trump further strengthened this rhetoric. He repeated past claims about an “invasion” of immigrants; that “Venezuelan gangs” are occupying American cities, even Times Square; and he offered instant solution: “On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get these criminals out. “I will liberate every occupied and conquered city and town, and we will imprison these treacherous and bloodthirsty criminals.” But he left open the question of who exactly all these “criminals” could be, because he seemed to be talking not only about immigrants, but also about his political opponents, that is, the “enemy within.” He said the United States “is currently an occupied country, but soon it will no longer be an occupied country… November 5, 2024, nine days from now, will be Liberation Day in America.”

The insults we heard from many speakers at Madison Square Garden included describing Puerto Rico as “garbage,” Harris as “the anti-Christ” or Hillary Clinton as a “sick son of a bitch.” It’s part of the same effort to be heard on thousands of podcast episodes featuring Carlson, Elon Musk, J.D. Vance and the like. Trump’s voters are prepared to equate his political opposition with infection, pollution, and demonic power, and to accept violence and chaos as a legitimate, necessary response to these primary, deadly threats.

as i wrote earlier this monthSuch language, imported from the 1930s, has never before been part of mainstream American presidential politics, as no other political candidate in modern history has used an election to undermine the legal basis of the American political system. But if we are an occupied country, Joe Biden is not the legitimately elected president of the United States. If we are an occupied country, then the American government is a sinister cabal that must be eliminated at all costs, rather than a set of institutions established over centuries by Congress. If we are an occupied country, then of course the Trump administration could break the law, commit acts of violence, and even throw away the Constitution to “liberate” Americans after Trump loses or wins the election.

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This type of language is not used by accident or coincidence. This is not a joke used by professional comedians. These insults are central to Trump’s message, which is why they were included. a place of respect. These are also classic authoritarian tactics that have worked before, not just in the 1930s but also in places like modern venezuela And modern RussiaCountries where the public has been ready to accept the lawlessness and violence of the state for many years. The same tactics are now at work in the United States. Election workers, whose duty it is to fulfill the will of the voters, are already Subjected to severe threats and harassment. At least two ballot boxes was attacked.

The natural human instinct is to dismiss, ignore or downplay such threats. But here’s the point: You need to accept this language and behavior, considering this type of rhetoric is “baked into” any Trump campaign. You have to get used to the idea that Trump wishes he had “Hitler’s generals” or uses the Stalinist phrase “enemies of the people” to describe his opponents. Because when you think this is normal, you will accept the next step. Even if the next step is an attack on democracy and the rule of law.