Revealed: Trump’s 'playbook' to subvert a functioning democracy
President Donald Trump lies, said MSNBC writer Zeeshan Aleem. Only now the president appears to be using his dishonesty for a scary purpose.
“Once again Trump appears to be making up flattering facts. But his old habit hits differently in this chapter of his presidency, as he carries out a playbook designed to subvert the functioning of our democracy,” Aleem tells MSNBC, adding that Trump's bogus poll numbers on Truth Social Sunday night are a prime example.
“Except what is written and broadcast in the Fake News, I now have the highest poll numbers I’ve ever had, some in the 60’s and even 70’s. Thank you. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump posted.
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“The president’s claims have no grounding in national surveys,” writes Aleem, who points out that a RealClearPolling average puts “Trump deeply underwater, with 46 percent job approval (and 51 percent disapproval). That's nearly 5 points down from the 50.5 percent average approval he held when he returned to office in January.”
Still other aggregators put Trump's average approval at about 44 percent, worse than for any other presidents at this point in their terms. Even his most favorable polls put Trump nowhere near 70 percent or higher.
Trump’s misinformation, said Aleem, is "a narrative designed to frame all of his actions — including authoritarian ones — as backed by an incontestable popular mandate.”
Aleem notes when Trump “was rejected by the American public in the 2020 election, he tried to do everything in his power, from lawfare to inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol, to deny that reality.”
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Similarly, if a weaker-than-expected jobs report threatens to undermine Trump's narrative that he's improving the economy, Aleem points said “he simply cans a person at the agency” who delivered the numbers.
A nascent authoritarian needs validation to justify his authoritarian antics, said Aleem, otherwise freedom-loving citizens won’t easily surrender their rights and privileges.
“Now as Trump oversees an illegitimate military occupation of the nation's capital, he's claiming that there is clear popular appetite for an autocrat to lead America,” writes Aleem, citing Trump telling the press on Monday that: “A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we’d like a dictator,’”
The polls don't show that, says Aleem, “but if Trump gets everything he wants, he won't need to care.”
Read the full MSNBC report at this link.
