How do we locate this assault on America's democratic norms and pluralistic society within a larger historical context? What role does violence play in Donald Trump's and the broader American right's political strategy? How does political sadism explain the rise of Trumpism and the unflinching devotion that his supporters have for him? In what ways is American democracy surviving Trump - or will it? What does the future hold for our imperiled republic? Predictably, since the launch of Trump's presidential campaign there has been a notable increase in white supremacist and other far-right violence across the United States. Trump and his administration are continuing their campaign of 'soft' ethnic cleansing by callously and cruelly breaking apart the families of undocumented residents and expelling nonwhite refugees from numerous countries. Republicans also believe that it is not Trump's contempt for democracy that threatens America but rather the 'news media.' Trump has fully taken control of the Republican Party and its voters: a recent poll reveals that the vast majority of Republicans believe that Donald Trump is honest and tells the truth.

Republicans in Congress continue to provide cover for his likely collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice. President Trump has continued his campaign against the rule of law with threats to take control of the Department of Justice.

This is more than any president in recent American history, and likely ever. By carefully measuring the cartography of this new American political landscape, we will be better equipped to navigate it, and perhaps to survive it.Īs tracked by The Washington Post, president Donald Trump has now publicly lied more than 3,000 times. One of the ways to ground oneself, to create a defense shield against this malignant reality is to document how political, social and cultural norms are being continually broken. This existential confusion is by design: It is one of the primary weapons of the authoritarian. What lies on the other side is a condition of confusion and befuddlement, a perpetual moment of asking 'Did that just really happen?' while knowing that the answer is always 'Yes.' Because without a doubt, President Trump did in fact just say or do that extraordinary thing. Donald Trump has led America - and the world - through the looking glass.

The road to unfreedom timothy snyder