The author of “Threat is Overstated” (Our Readers’ Views, Jan. 20), perhaps intentionally, misses the point.
Our established democracy is, in fact, a two-party republic in which one party has achieved wins in two recent presidential elections with a minority of the popular vote. In the most recent of those, Donald Trump received 2.8 million fewer votes than his opponent but won the presidency in the decidedly undemocratic Electoral College. He has refused to accept defeat after losing a second term by over 7 million popular votes and a convincing loss in the Electoral College.
The Republican Party as an institution has enthusiastically joined him in rejecting democratic norms. He has publicly announced plans to use the Justice Department to punish his opponents, to abolish much of the federal Civil Service in favor of political appointees loyal to only him, and to pardon the rioters and insurrectionists legally convicted in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Mr. Trump seems likely to cruise to a nomination by his enabling party. He could win, and he firmly believes he can do anything he wishes as president, whether it’s technically legal or not. The threat is, if anything, woefully understated.
