Vox founder Ezra Klein (11/7/20) pointed out that Trump is trying to create something
akin to an autocracy-in-exile, an alternative America in which he is the rightful leader, and he — and the public he claims to represent — has been robbed of power by corrupt elites.
This coup attempt, he writes,
has made clear that would-be autocrats have a path to power in the United States, and if they can walk far enough down that path, an entire political party will support them, and protect them.
A Morning Consult/Politico (11/9/20) found that 70% of Republicans don’t believe that the 2020 election was free and fair, which is a stark increase from the 35% of Republicans who believed so before the election. If enough Republicans are convinced that their electoral defeats can only be explained by Democrats cheating, this could potentially incite massive reactionary violence, led by an opportunist political party determined to maintain minority rule at any cost (Washington Post, 11/12/20). This is why it’s important for media to forcefully report and denounce these coup attempts in real-time.