On Friday, July 26th, at the Turning Point Action Believers’ Summit, Donald Trump made a very worrying statement for our democracy. During a speech, Donald Trump said, “Christians, get out and vote. Just this time … In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote”. He blatantly told a religious group that the election after this one would be rigged in their favor. 

The next Monday, he doubled down on it, declining to rebut the criticism that his address meant he would end elections. He instead repeated the sentiment.

Elections are the bedrock of democracy. In a minimalist definition, free and fair elections are the most important component. Even in a maximalist definition of democracy, elections are always included. Donald Trump has been attacking elections for a long time, but this statement marks a scary escalation. He is hinting at the possibility of running for a third term in 2028, which is unconstitutional under the 22nd Amendment. He has already called the 2020 election fraudulent and has refused to accept the results.

Donald Trump displays the key elements of a populist leader. For one, he is a political outsider who is very frustrated with the current system and political norms. However, to truly be a populist leader, you have to be both antipluralist and antielitist. Trump is both. 

He has on many occasions claimed that he is the only one who represents the people. He argues that there is a silent majority behind him. He has also consistently attacked his opponents since running for his first term. He has claimed that Biden, and now Harris, are elitist and don’t represent the will of the people. He has compared political opponents to vermin. He also recently said that he would prosecute his political opponents. He chanted “Lock her Up”, in 2016, about his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. Additionally, anything that goes wrong he blames on the “Deep State”, a shadowing group of elites conspiring against him and his supporters.

According to Müller, In her book What is Populism?, populists pit the innocent working class against the corrupt elite. Trump has done this, he regularly belittles the political and media elite in speeches. He also ran on the promise of draining the swamp, with the swamp being the corrupt political elite in D.C. He has even called his working-class supporters the new elite.

Populists also pit the working class against the very bottom of society- immigrants. Trump has heavily relied on this frame of attack, frequently condemning immigrants by calling them all criminals. He also attempted to build a border wall to keep them out of the country. Most recently, he has taken to accusing immigrants of eating cats and dogs.

Trump has also praised populists. Most recently, during the presidential debate, he praised Victor Orban, the autocratic leader of Hungary. Orban is a populist leader who has eroded Hungary’s democracy. Trump praising him to the nation is deeply troubling.

Increasingly, democracies are shifting from authoritarian retrogression, a sudden collapse of democracy, to a slower erosion of norms. Now, military coups are less common, and executive aggrandizement- strengthening the power of an incumbent by changing the legal framework, more common. The executive branch in America has been increasing in power, with the rise in executive orders and increased polarization- even in the bureaucracy. It is not a new concept that started in 2016, the executive branch has been growing in power for decades. Yet, Trump’s proposals go too far. 

He has said that he will turn into a dictator on day one, but only on day one. Even just for a day, wishing to be a dictator and running for president of a democracy should not go together. However, Trump’s words and actions this summer it looks more and more like he wants them to. 

Populist leaders first come to power through democratic elections and then gradually undermine institutional constraints, weaken the opposition, and erode civil society, until they are authoritarian. America is not an exception to this phenomenon, it can happen to us, and it can happen under Donald Trump.

Americans like to claim that our democracy is special since it is the oldest, but just because it is old does not make it any more safe. Democratic erosion can happen to any democracy, including America’s. Our safeguards are not that strong and have already been weakened, especially with the strengthening of the executive branch. In How Democracies Fall Apart, they say “the threat of authoritarianism, it turns out, does not diminish over time” with Venezuela a remarkable example. The country used to be the third oldest non-Western democracy, but now America is accusing the president of not conducting a free and fair election.

Trump is a populist leader who could very easily slide our democracy backward and already has chipped away at it. According to Huq and Ginsberg, in “How to Lose a Constitutional Democracy,” our Constitution does not protect our democracy as well as most people think, the political norms do. Those norms are being eroded by the increased polarization that Trump has inflamed. He fits all the elements of a populist leader which is not something that should be taken lightly. He has also said very concerning things, especially about elections. People should not underestimate his power to do immense harm to our democracy. Donald Trump’s populist rhetoric is a threat to America’s democracy.