I have in mind a number of claims and positions that Trump has:
1) The claim that he would be a dictator on day one of his presidency and not afterwards
2) His consistent attempts, past and promised, to increase executive power, interfere directly with the justice system, target the press
3) He still claims that the 2020 election was stolen;
3b) Dec 3rd, 2022, Trump claimed that election fraud was a basis for suspending "for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution"
4) Jan 6 was an attempt to subvert democracy
5) Trump wouldn't commit to accepting a loss in the 2024 election, and presaged what might happen if he didn't win, such as this comment from an Ohio rally in March, "I don’t think you’re going to have another election in this country, if we don’t win this election … certainly not an election that’s meaningful"
6) Trump has repeatedly threatened to pursue political opponents, dissidents, and the media with judicial punishments.
7) Trump has joked (and this is part of his rhetoric, to jokingly throw out extreme ideas and see how they land), more than once, about serving a third term.
All of these suggest that Trump is hostile to genuine democracy, and is headed towards the kind of illiberal democracy you see in Hungary, Russia, or other such states, where democracy remains intact as a shell hollowed out with an authoritarian filling.
What do you mean when you say that Trump admitted that he wants to overthrow American democracy?
I have in mind a number of claims and positions that Trump has:
1) The claim that he would be a dictator on day one of his presidency and not afterwards
2) His consistent attempts, past and promised, to increase executive power, interfere directly with the justice system, target the press
3) He still claims that the 2020 election was stolen;
3b) Dec 3rd, 2022, Trump claimed that election fraud was a basis for suspending "for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution"
4) Jan 6 was an attempt to subvert democracy
5) Trump wouldn't commit to accepting a loss in the 2024 election, and presaged what might happen if he didn't win, such as this comment from an Ohio rally in March, "I don’t think you’re going to have another election in this country, if we don’t win this election … certainly not an election that’s meaningful"
6) Trump has repeatedly threatened to pursue political opponents, dissidents, and the media with judicial punishments.
7) Trump has joked (and this is part of his rhetoric, to jokingly throw out extreme ideas and see how they land), more than once, about serving a third term.
All of these suggest that Trump is hostile to genuine democracy, and is headed towards the kind of illiberal democracy you see in Hungary, Russia, or other such states, where democracy remains intact as a shell hollowed out with an authoritarian filling.
Hmmm I find some of this unconvincing and some of it more troubling, but I don't see any of it as an admission that he intends to overthrow democracy.
Happy to agree to disagree on this though
I should say *very troubling* not just more