After Joe Biden’s celebratory speech on November 2, in which he described an imperiled democracy in the United States, his Republican opponents immediately denounced the alarmism of the circumstances. On the eve of the Nov. 8 midterm elections, traditionally unfavorable to the party occupying the White House, this argument of electoral opportunism can be heard. However, it cannot hide the real threats that now plague American institutions.
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Sadly, almost twenty months after the unprecedented attack on the Capitol in Washington by Trumpist activists on January 6, 2021 with the ostensible aim of overturning the verdict of the 2020 presidential election, the anti-democracy fever has had no consequences. It continues to be upheld by the man who swore to defend the same institutions when he took office, yet coldly and methodically orchestrated this attempted coup. Aided by the cowardice of Republican officials, Donald Trump has since foisted the untruth of a stolen election on a critical mass of conservative voters. Despite the lack of the slightest evidence, despite dozens of investigations and counts.
Donald Trump has triumphed by further trivializing verbal violence, which is spreading like leprosy. In 2021, almost ten thousand threats were registered against elected members of Congress, mainly against members of the Commission of Inquiry into the January 6 attack and women of various backgrounds. The brutal attack on the night of October 27/28 at her home on the husband of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was the actual target of that attack, is further evidence of the damage of this attack, as well as drift the blatant mediocrity of much of the Republican response.
Endemic Conspiracy
This Republican negationist current has not been content to perpetuate the conspiracy theory that makes it possible to avoid questioning the reasons for Donald Trump’s defeat. He has been swinging towards the midterm elections for weeks. The latter was preceded by the passage of a record number of laws restricting the practice of voting, whether it be voting by mail or the electoral rolls, which are facing outright purges across Republican states that Democrats believe are targeting the areas favorable to them .
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Far from restoring voter confidence, this excess of texts, added to an endemic conspiracy targeting both postal voting and voting machines, has, on the contrary, heightened suspicion like a tragic self-fulfilling prophecy. To the point where there is now the amazing creation of veritable militias that claim to guarantee the integrity of electoral processes outside of any legal framework.
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Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has become a symbol of this Republican anti-democratic temptation, refusing to commit to honoring the outcome of her election if it were unfavorable to her. Unfortunately, she’s far from the only one on her side. Dozens of others hold the same stance, while some, if successful, will be the guarantors of the upcoming elections, beginning with the 2024 presidential election.
Joe Biden, whatever his ulterior motives, is therefore not wrong when he claims that democracy is at stake on November 8th, and this observation never tires of worrying.