According to the dictionary, “branding” in the marketing sense is “the promotion of a particular product or company by means of advertising and distinctive design.” If you watched any of the RNC footage this week, it’s abundantly clear that Trump is replacing our democracy with his brand. And Trump’s brand is one of the rich getting richer, the oppression of free speech and the freedom to peacefully assemble, as well as white supremacism, xenophobia, and out-right authoritarianism. Some of my friends and neighbors say I’m being a bit dramatic when I say this, but our democracy is in danger. As history shows, the erosion of democracy doesn’t always involve military coups with tanks and troops, it can often be gradual, sneaky and insidious.
I tried to refrain from watching the RNC this week, and managed to get most of the highlights from the major networks and internet news outlets. I must say that I was absolutely shocked, saddened and dismayed by what I saw. The RNC line-up consisted of Trump’s children, their spouses, and a collection of sycophants, enablers and promotional stunts. The main message and platform consisted of fear mongering, and patting Trump on the back for all of his accomplishments that have yet to happen, never happened, or happened under the Obama administration. It was like no other political convention I’d ever seen before: A circus of lies, propaganda, misinformation and misdirection. The 2020 RNC was not the GOP convention, it was the Trump show with Trump flinging his brand all over the place.
As far as RNC 2020 lies and misinformation go, take former ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, who stated that America is not a racist country (1), or special gun-toting guests Patricia and Mark McCloskey claiming that “They (the Democrats) want to abolish the suburbs altogether by ending single-family home zoning (2).” Then there’s VP Pence’s claim that Biden wants to defund the police, where in fact Biden is pushing for police reform, not defunding, and Trump’s claim that, “I have done more for the African American community than any president since Abraham Lincoln.” An absolutely ridiculous claim: Lyndon Johnson was he one who signed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act (3). Trump claimed that Joe Biden would confiscate guns, which is absolutely untrue: Biden advocates a non-mandatory buyback of assault weapons. POTUS also stated that Republicans will always protect people with preexisting (health) conditions, but that’s a lie too since Trump and the GOP have repeatedly tried to weaken Obamacare protections. And then Trump took credit for implementation of the VA Accountability and VA Choice Act, which was actually the result of bi-partisan efforts by John McCain and Bernie Sanders, and passed under Obama’s administration in 2014. And perhaps the biggest, ugliest lie uttered was when Trump claimed that “The United States has among the lowest case fatality rates (of COVID-19) of any major country anywhere in the world.” As Johns Hopkins has detailed, we are not even close to having the lowest Covid fatality rate in the world. The US has a 3.1% fatality rate, higher than Norway (2.5%), Japan (1.9%) and Russia (1.7%). Over 180,000 Americans have died from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins, which is by far the highest total in the world (2). The lies during the RNC Trump show were almost too many to count.
And then there was the fireworks display and the mass gathering on the front lawn of the White house. Trump poo-poos the Constitution and anti-partisan laws like the Hatch Act, that restricts presidents and servants of the state from using public property as political props. Trump delivered his speech from the White House, and the lawn was littered with TRUMP/PENCE signs, not to mention attendees who went unmasked. The White house and it’s grounds belong to the people of the United States, not to one political party or person. Trump has hi-jacked the GOP, the White House and our democracy. Just like his failed casinos and hotels, Trump is slapping his brand on our country.
In their book, How Democracies Die, Harvard authors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt list four indicators of authoritarian behavior (5):
- Rejecting (or weakly committing to) democratic rules.
- Denying the legitimacy of political opponents.
- Tolerating or encouraging violence.
- Demonstrating readiness to curtail civil liberties of opponents, including the news media.
In a recent interview, the authors state that “Trump, even before his inauguration, tested positive on all four measures on our litmus test for autocrats. . . With the exception of Richard Nixon, no major-party presidential candidate met even one of these four criteria over the last century.” So, if you’re worried whether American democracy is dying, you have reason to be (4). The authors state in their book that the erosion of democracy can be insidious, and governments that were often freely elected, can then turn around and use democratic institutions to weaken or destroy democracy. There can be a gradual chipping away at democratic institutions, and we see this in the USPS, the CDC, the FDA, the EPA and the DHS, as well as the Treasury buying stocks and bonds to prop up the stock market in the midst of record-setting unemployment (6). The Trump administration is stacking the deck, making it more difficult to dislodge the new status quo and the incumbent government through the democratic process.
Turkey is a prime example. Over the last 10 years, Recep Erdogan has entrenched himself in power, and weakened any opposition so that with each passing year it becomes harder and harder to oppose him. Levitsky and Ziblatt point out an important fact in their book, and that fact is that elected authorities get into power not just through elections and appealing to the public, but by allying themselves with establishment politicians. Let’s look at all of Trump’s supporters in Congress and the Senate, GOP representatives who have forsaken their oaths of office and have bent to Trump’s extremism, giving him a free pass to do whatever he wants. And what’s amazing to me is that these supporters once criticized Trump mercilessly prior to his election in 2016.
Donald Trump is an authoritarian, he sings the praises of other dictators such as Putin, Erdogan and Kim Jong-un. He has succeeded in politicizing the law and the DOJ. For example, it is clear from his actions that Attorney General Barr is not our AG, but Trump’s personal lawyer. Trump, the authoritarian, has transformed neutral institutions like the Supreme Court, the AG, and the CDC, into his personal organizations. Also, Trump’s continued effort to delegitimize the media and the election process should send out alarm bells. The myth of election fraud, and using the USPS to disenfranchise voters who might actually vote for Democrats this fall. Voter suppression has been part of the GOP playbook for years, and Trump has joined forces with those legislators who have been working on this for years. The credibility of our electoral process and the free press, two corner stones of our democracy, are in grave danger.
Trump is trying to brand our democracy with his name and his authoritarian agenda. And this brand is, even now, eroding the Constitution, human rights and all those values that we Americans hold near and dear. We can’t let democracy wither away, and die a slow death. Our only hope is to vote and let our voices be heard. This fall, have a voting plan, be prepared to weather the storms of negative press, Russian trolls, depressing polls, voter suppression and other efforts to make us feel helpless and despondent. That’s what authoritarians want you to feel: Helpless. Don’t get distracted, our democracy is on the line here, and we all need to go out an vote like our lives depend on it.
Sources:
1. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/513487-nikki-haley-us-us-not-a-racist-country
5. Levitsky, Steven; Ziblatt, Daniel (2018). How Democracies Die. New York: Crown.