Three weeks before Election Day, Donald J. Trump pushed to the forefront of his campaign a menacing political threat that he would use the power of his presidency to crush those who disagree with him. In a Fox News interview, Trump framed Democrats as a pernicious “enemy from within” and that he would use the U.S. military to go after them.
In 1838, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech to the Young Men’s Lyceum, a debating society in Springfield, Ill. The subject was citizenship and preservation of America’s institutions. Lincoln warned that the greatest danger to the nation came from within. All the armies of the world could not crush us, he maintained, but we could still “die by suicide.”
Just weeks before the presidential election, Trump was asked about the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot that injured 140 police officers. Donald described this rampage as a “day of love.” However, I would describe Jan. 6 as the day American democracy tried to commit suicide while chanting “hang Mike Pence.”
Now that Trump will have the reins of government, it’s going to take courage and tremendous effort to stand up to him. We have no choice because the suicide of American democracy is not an option.
