He’ll trash the US again
Don’t misunderstand what Donald Trump means when he says he’s running for president again.
He doesn’t mean he will present his case to the American people in 2024 in the expectation that a majority of them will choose him. He doesn’t mean he puts his faith in American democracy, election integrity, the laws of presidential succession or any other institution coterminous with the nation itself. That would be what pretty much any other candidate would mean. But not Trump.
The ex-president has demonstrated unmistakeably that he intends to take the office by hook or by crook, by denying the validity of any vote against him, by lying to his armed and angry rabble, by pressuring state election officials, state legislatures and federal courts to lie, cheat and otherwise betray the American people and their democracy.
Hoping he might suddenly play by the rules is absurd. He’s the same man he was two years ago. He doesn’t deny it.
He has enough true believers to help him inflict mortal danger on the republic. It is stunning to hear self-proclaimed patriots and prophets call for military intervention to overturn their hero’s prior defeat. That is the stuff of fascist dictatorship.
His declaration of candidacy should be treated as the pealing of bells, warning the people of danger in their midst.
This opinion is not necessarily shared by Stuff newspapers.