'The way democracy dies': Former SCOTUS justice warned of authoritarian takeover

06 November 2024

As Democrats wonder how the United States overwhelmingly chose to elect a convicted felon to the nation's highest office, one answer may be found in the words of a Republican-appointed former Supreme Court justice.

On Wednesday, MSNBC columnist Steve Benen recalled how Associate Justice David Souter — who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 — warned Americans in 2012 that authoritarianism was just around the corner. Souter predicted that, paradoxically, American democracy could end up being its undoing if a majority of voters in an election collectively decide to end it.

"I think some of the aspects of current American government that people on both sides find frustrating are partly a function of the inability of people to understand how government can and should function,” Souter said in a conversation with Margaret Warner 12 years ago. “It is a product of civic ignorance.”

Souter went on to explain that he worries less about the U.S. losing its form of government due to foreign invaders, or by a military coup as is the case in countries like Egypt and Myanmar. Rather, Souter said he felt democracy was most at risk by the American public itself, not being educated enough about what's causing their frustration and electing a demagogue convincing a majority of voters that they alone can fix it if given "total power." He noted: "That is how the Roman republic fell."

"If we know who is responsible, I have enough faith in the American people to demand performance from those responsible. If we don’t know, we will stay away from the polls. We will not demand it. And the day will come when somebody will come forward, and we and the government will in effect say, ‘Take the ball and run with it. Do what you have to do.’ That is the way democracy dies," he said. "And if something is not done to improve the level of civic knowledge, that is what you should worry about at night."

New York University professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat — an expert on authoritarian regimes around the world — said after former President Donald Trump's late October rally at Madison Square Garden that he was clearly laying the groundwork for an anti-democratic regime in a second term. She observed that he has been "using his rallies since 2015" to "incite violence" and "radicalize people."

"Although Donald Trump objects strenuously to people comparing him to Hitler, he is the one who has gone out of his way to use Nazi rhetoric: talking about polluting our blood, calling people vermin, even releasing a campaign ad that says he's going to creative a unified reich in America," she said. "And of course, as Gen. [John] Kelly said, (Trump complained) that generals should be obeying him like Hitler's generals obeyed the Fuhrer. So, this is not at all casual."

Benen likewise noted that Trump made it abundantly clear during his campaign that he would not abide by democratic norms or be constrained by democratic institutions if the voting public put him in power again. He wrote: "The Republican nominee for the nation’s highest office threatened perceived foes with prison sentences, explicitly endorsed a “strongman” leadership style, boasted about his support from dictators, raised the prospect of a temporary American “dictatorship,” and talked about “terminating” parts of the Constitution that stand in the way of his ambitions."

"In case that weren’t quite enough, he also argued that his rivals shouldn’t be “allowed” to run against him, targeted immigrants with Hitler-style rhetoric while promising to create militarized mass deportations and detention camps, occasionally talked about deporting people who entered the United States legally, promised pardons to politically aligned criminals, raised the specter of military tribunals for his perceived domestic political foes, vowed crackdowns on the free press, and even talked about expanding the use of the U.S. military on American soil," Benen continued.

The MSNBC columnist predicted that several years into Trump's second term, many of his supporters may express regrets about their choice, emphasizing that they didn't want to erase democracy but rather just wanted to pay less money for groceries. He warned, however, that "by then, it will be too late."

Click here to read Benen's column in full.

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