Opinion: The Very Real Threat of Right-Wing Leaders Cheering on Trump
One by one they offered their loyalty pledge to MAGA’s Dear Leader. One by one Republican leaders publicly placed fealty to Donald Trump ahead of loyalty to the United States or the oath they once had made to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.
But they were not alone.
Other Trump supporters from around the world, including at least one who actively seeks to destroy the United States, not only expressed their support for the mob-boss-who-would-be-king, but did so with language uncannily like that of the MAGA chorus that offered lies and laments in response to the New York jury’s unanimous verdict to convict the former president.
Mussed-Looking Trump Goes on Wild Free Associative Rant at Post-Conviction Press Conference
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov opined, “If we speak about Trump, the fact that there is simply the elimination… of political rivals by all possible means, legal and illegal, is obvious.” From Hungary’s wannabe authoritarian strongman Viktor Orbán: “Trump is a man of honor. As president he always put America first. (The American people) will make their verdict this November. Keep fighting Mr. President.” Italian deputy prime minister and leader of that country’s right wing movement, Matteo Salvini, proclaimed: “Solidarity and full support for (Trump), victim of judicial harassment… We are sadly familiar with the weaponization of the justice system by the left.” “Stay strong,” British right-wing firebrand Nigel Farage told his newly convicted friend.
The global right-wing movement is closely coordinated. Orbán’s regular visits to speak with CPAC illustrate this, as do Trump’s efforts to kowtow to Putin or break bread with the likes of Farage. They take their cues from each other. They use the same language. They are all “anti-woke.” And racist. And misogynist. And nationalist. And anti-democratic.
Recognizing how carefully orchestrated this chorus is offers an important insight that puts the Trump trial and the reaction to it in context much more important than the news media stories trying to divine how much the trial might impact poll results.
The assault on the rule of law that came from MAGA-world following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts was directly related to the assault on the rule of law being carried out by extremists on the U.S. Supreme Court (the place where the real politicization of our judiciary is happening).
The attack on our most hallowed institutions that came on Thursday and Friday from Republican Senators and Congresspeople, governors and flacks, after Trump’s conviction was no different from the institutional assault on the court by the Federalist Society or on Capitol Hill by the Jan. mob.
Attacks on America from within are directly linked to attacks on America—our ideas and ideals, our friends and allies—from overseas.
Putin attacks Ukraine as a step toward attacking NATO and weakening the West. And when he does he gets the support of Trump, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Tucker Carlson, and Mike Flynn, and the MAGA loonies. Orbán weakens Hungarian democracy and spreads antisemitic and anti-immigrant slurs and he is celebrated as a model by Trump, welcomed to Mar-a-Lago, lionized by the American right. Farage attacks the EU and Trump undercuts and degrades our allies and alliances. Putin and Trump both attack “fake news.”
It is, you see, all the same story. It is all one concerted, comprehensive, increasingly successful effort to destroy America and the institutions we have built since World War II from within and from without. And as you watch as our freedoms are stripped away, and as you read about Trump’s 2025 plan, and his desire to pull out of NATO and essentially leave Eastern Europe at the mercy of Putin, it should be clear that this global effort, this international right-wing movement, is positioned to do more damage to us and to our allies than did all the armies of Hitler, Mussolini, Japan, the Kaiser, or Soviet Russia and its satellite states.
It’s happening before our eyes. It is not a conspiracy theory. It is a conspiracy. It is not an imagined threat. It is real and it is taking a toll day-in and day-out from Kharkiv to the British consumers suffering due to the end of Brexit, and to the victims of the radicalized, anti-Constitutional decisions of our Supreme Court.
Should we not see it for what it is, should we make Trump the first felon elevated to the Oval Office, we will see much worse. We will not just be getting his corruption and racism; we will be inviting an entire global alliance of our bitterest enemies to take the helm of this country and ultimately seek—with ever greater resources and opportunities—to realize their dream of bringing us to our knees.
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