'Democracy itself will be on trial': Kentucky historians sound the alarm over GOP’s 'frightening' plans

Two Kentucky historians are issuing a stern warning to Democratic lawmakers about what they should make clear to their constituents before the 2022 and 2024 elections.

In an op-ed published by The Courier-Journal, Brian Clardy, a Murray State University history professor, and John Hennen, a history professor emeritus at Morehead State University, sounded the alarm on the Republican Party's long-term plan for the United States. According to Clardy and Hennen, the GOP is preparing to lead the United States down a path "straight toward white supremacy and authoritarianism."

“This is real, this is serious and it’s frightening,” Clardy warned.

Clardy and Hennen insisted that "Democrats are wrong if they think beating back COVID-19 and boosting the economy via their economic program will be enough to hold the House and Senate in 2022 and earn Biden a second term in 2024."

“The Democrats have to remind people that next year and in 2024, democracy itself will be on trial,” Clardy warned.

Hennen went on to discuss what needs to be done in order to combat the GOP's push toward fascism. “We must build a democratic resistance that amounts to a counter-fascist coup — In short, we must all become ‘Antifa,’ or antifascists,” said Hennen.

Although former President Donald Trump failed in his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, that does not mean the attempted coup is over. Republicans are instead taking more calculated steps toward a slow-motion coup, and working to dismantle election laws and restrict voting by way of gerrymandering and redistricting.

In addition to their assault on the United States electoral processes, Republicans have also gone a step further to ensure their agenda comes to fruition. Avid Trump supporters and right-wing extremists are running for public office in hopes of acquiring key positions to control elections. This is particularly disturbing because their next attempted coup could be successful with the right people in positions of power.

Hennen also explained the deep-rooted extent of Trumpism. “The eruption of violent white nationalist authoritarianism in our country is the shocking manifestation of less noisy currents of fascist politics which have evolved for decades.”

Read the full op-ed at The Courier-Journal.