Normalizing Anti-Democratic Rhetoric One 'Joke' at a Time

The media's failure to challenge Trump's anti-democratic rhetoric is a threat to our electoral system.

In a recent speech at the Turning Point Action's Believers' Summit, former President Donald Trump told his Christian supporters, "You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what? It will be fixed, it will be fine, you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians." These words, coming from a man who attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, should have set off alarm bells in newsrooms across the country. Instead, major media outlets have largely failed to treat these comments with the gravity they deserve, potentially normalizing rhetoric that undermines the very foundations of our democratic system.

Trump's recent comments are not an isolated incident, but rather part of a long-standing pattern of rhetoric that chips away at democratic norms and institutions. Throughout his presidency and beyond, Trump has consistently made statements that question the integrity of elections, undermine the peaceful transfer of power, and suggest an authoritarian approach to governance.

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The most glaring example of this pattern was Trump's refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election, culminating in the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. His persistent claims of widespread voter fraud, despite a lack of evidence, led to a dangerous erosion of trust in the electoral process among his supporters. The events of January 6th demonstrated the real-world consequences of such rhetoric when taken to its logical extreme.

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

With this context in mind, Trump's recent comments about his supporters not needing to vote after four years shouldn’t be viewed as a harmless joke or exaggeration, but as a continuation of this deeply troubling pattern. The suggestion that he could "fix" things to such an extent that voting becomes unnecessary echoes the language of autocrats and should be treated as a serious threat to democratic principles.