Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:39 pm
A majority of Americans regarded Trump’s January 6 insurrection and attempted coup a flagrant attack on America’s fragile democracy. However, a new report reveals that the attack on the nation’s Capitol was nothing compared to what a very significant number of Americans believe should transpire to put Trump back in the White House.
During the evil Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler, the fascist dictator’s Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels repeated a phrase that explains why America’s democracy is hanging by a thread. Goebbels said:
“If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and even you will come to believe it yourself.”
Trump began repeating the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him immediately after media outlets started calling the election for then-candidate Joseph R. Biden. The lie increased exponentially when states began certifying the election results., and with a cadre of propagandists in service to Trump, that apparent lie has become an ardent belief among Republicans of all stations in life.
That lie precipitated the deadly insurrectionist attack and attempted coup d’état on January 6 when Trump dispatched his treasonous army to “fight like Hell” to save “your America.”
Despite the BIG Lie has been proven to be a monumental canard to incite Trump acolytes to action and donations, the real danger goes far beyond that vile treasonous attack on the nation’s Capitol.
In a recently reported survey conducted by non-partisan researchers at NORC at the University of Chicago, the researchers sought “to discover how widespread insurrectionist sentiments are among U.S. adults.”
The results of the survey are terrifying for any American who believes the January 6 insurrection was just an anomaly. It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Trump and his thugs repeating a lie often now poses a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States – it is also a clarion call that America’s democracy is in dire jeopardy.
According to the survey’s results, proof that repeating a lie long enough makes it true to angry Trump supporters because 25% of adults either strongly or somewhat agree that:
“The 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump and Joe Biden is an illegitimate president.”
The polling also found that 9% of American adults say they agree that:
“Use of force is justified to restore Donald J. Trump to the presidency.”
The researchers noted that among the 21 million who believe Trump must be restored as president by violent force, 68% believe force will also be needed to preserve America’s traditional way of life – think “make America white again.”
The survey also revealed that the same percentage of Americans who believe reinstating Trump as president by force embrace the white supremacist and evangelical notions that:
“African Americans and Hispanics in our country will eventually have more rights than whites” – a belief sometimes called “the Great Replacement.”
And that “A secret group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles is ruling the US government;” a foundational belief in the QAnon movement.
The survey noted that among those supporting violence to reinstate Trump:
“Many of the 21 million people with insurrectionist sentiments have the capacity for violent mobilization. At least 7 million of them already own a gun, and at least 3 million have served in the U.S. military and have lethal skills. Of those 21 million, 6 million said they support right-wing militias and extremist groups, and 1 million said they are themselves or personally know a member of such a group, including the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.”
Researchers reported that the insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol on January 6 represent a far more mainstream movement than any earlier instances of violent right-wing extremism. In fact, only 14% of the traitors arrested for attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6 are members of those right-wing extremists groups. “More than half are business owners or middle-aged white-collar professionals, and only 7% are unemployed.”
There have always been fringe anti-government groups, typically white supremacists and evangelical fanatics, yearning for a second revolution or outright overthrow of the government. But as the research shows, the MAGA movement is not “fringe,” small or isolated. It is a massive movement that worships Trump and hangs on his every word; including when to arm-up and use violent means to reinstate him in the White House.
However, no-one should pin all the blame on Trump for repeating the BIG LIE that the election was stolen from him.
It is true that Trump and his operatives such as Michael Flynn, Rudy Giuliani, Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene are publicly inciting the MAGA faithful to violence, but they are not solely responsible for propagating the BIG LIE.
Every Republican in Congress, state-level politician, and right-wing media pundit is just as guilty as Trump for no other reason than remaining silent about Trump’s BIG LIE when they could just as easily debunk the punk’s blatantly false assertions.
Republicans won’t cross Trump or his insurrectionists because they need their electoral support or are well aware contradicting Trump will make them targets of the violent extremists.
The time for them to have spoken up was immediately after the election when this clear and present danger could have been nipped in the bud. But they did not. It is no wonder why the majority of Americans still rightly believe democracy is under attack.
It leaves one to ponder how many of the Republicans in Congress and Statehouses are part of the 21 million who believe Trump should be reinstated by violence. One suspects the number is significant and that is a frightening prospect in and of itself.
Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn't look good.
Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.
- Opinion: Lock Them All Up. Trump’s DOJ Violated U.S. Law By Ignoring His Crimes - Fri, Oct 22nd, 2021
- Opinion: The House Select Committee Can Avoid the DOJ and Arrest Steve Bannon - Mon, Oct 18th, 2021
- Opinion: Steve Bannon Belongs in Prison For Planning Another Violent Coup - Wed, Oct 6th, 2021
