Much will be studied, analyzed, and written about in the years to come as to why Americans returned an openly authoritarian leader to power by a clearly larger margin than he did eight years ago. It will be. What is clearer and more important at this point is what millions of our fellow Americans have done by putting Donald Trump back in the White House.
Today, we must consider the harsh reality that authoritarianism has arrived in America, that it is widespread, and that millions of our fellow citizens are voting for it. We are entering dark and dangerous times. But while this is a time of reckoning we must recognize, we must also refuse to give in to despair and continue to claim and rely on our rights and protections as Americans.
For the next four years, the world’s most powerful office will be occupied by a twice-impeached and convicted felon with a history of flouting laws and norms. This is the narcissist who instigated the violent insurrection of January 6th and who promised to make decisions based on revenge and retaliation. It’s more about bias than what’s best for the country. It is natural for Americans to be horrified and disillusioned by the resurgence of a racist and sexist man. Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, spent the final days and weeks of the campaign on a racist rant, calling Vice President Kamala Harris a “bad person.”
While large swaths of the country, especially California, rejected Trump’s fear-mongering, it was not enough to defeat his appeal in much of the country. A majority of American voters preferred a more qualified woman of color to President Trump, who showed clear flaws and incompetence, even though some were concerned about immigration and the rising cost of living. His victory forces us to grapple with the question of how two such disparate visions of the United States can coexist.
President Trump’s policies seek to further erode the rights of many of us, especially the rights of women, LGBTQ+ Americans, and immigrants. We expect him to use his office in a blatantly transactional manner and be easily manipulated by opportunists both domestic and foreign. Just as he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month to “do what you have to do,” he has promised to abandon U.S. allies, including Ukraine, and give Israel freedom.
It is also expected to weaponize basic government services, including aid for disasters such as wildfires, which President Trump has said could be withheld from California. He has always been passionate about rolling back environmental and climate protections. There will be more attacks on science, as evidenced by his willingness to give Robert F. Kennedy Jr. control over health policy. He threatened to round up millions of immigrants into concentration camps.
There will be fewer checks on his power, thanks to a respectful Supreme Court, a docile Republican majority in the Senate, and a determination to form a more flexible government.
Many of Trump’s closest former staffers have warned that he is unfit for public office and a grave threat to our democracy. His election won’t change anything. History shows that dictators often seize power through democratic means.
Times like these put the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous words to the test: “The arc of the moral world is long, but it bends toward justice.” Former President Obama added, “Progress is uneven.” It’s always been that way. ”
But we still enjoy the safeguards of our state and federal constitutions, courts, the rule of law, a free press, and democracy, even as they are tested like never before. We still have many elected officials, public servants, advocates, and journalists who will use their positions to resist the overreach of the incoming administration.
California will once again play an essential role in not only protecting environmental protections, but also protecting individual liberties and protecting vulnerable communities. We endured President Trump’s tumultuous first term, and we will survive another.
