Why Americans haven’t reached the Trump tipping point yet — and what it will take

I keep asking myself when Trump’s authoritarian fascism will become so intolerable to the vast majority of Americans that they rise up against it — not only massively protest but put enough pressure on Republicans in Congress that they join with Democrats in impeaching and convicting him.

In other words, what’s the tipping point for ridding us of this menace?

I thought we’d reached that tipping point when he went to war with Iran without congressional approval. Or when he sent active military troops into Los Angeles. Or when he imposed tariffs on all products imported to the United States, essentially raising taxes on Americans. Or when he forced out the president of the University of Virginia for insufficiently rooting out DEI. Or when he attacked major law firms for employing lawyers who once tried to hold him legally accountable.

Obviously, we haven’t reached the tipping point yet. So what will it take? Several possibilities come to mind:

1. He raises tariffs 25 percent on almost all products imported into the United States, resulting in substantial price increases across the economy. Americans who pay no attention to politics now find they’re struggling to pay the bills.

2. He stations active military troops in every major American city to “protect” ICE agents who are going house to house, apartment to apartment, demanding proof of citizenship. Americans who haven’t before been affected by Trump’s police state are now aware of it, as many of their relatives or friends get caught up in the dragnet.

3. He builds a gulag of detention centers across America into which he sends Americans who criticize him, prior to revoking their citizenship and expelling them to prisons in foreign nations. Americans who haven’t been concerned about his actions against immigrants now find that he is silencing all criticism about him or his regime.

4. He announces that the Supreme Court is intruding on presidential powers and he is therefore not bound by the court. Americans who haven’t paid attention to his lawlessness are now forced to confront his constitutional coup.

Hence today’s Office Hours question: What actions by Trump and his lackeys do you believe will trigger such a massive upheaval in America that even Republican lawmakers who have supported him will join with Democrats to impeach and convict him? Where’s the tipping point?

Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/.