Democrats’ “End of America” Narrative is Getting Tiresome … and Fortunately Not Working

(With Apologies to readers. This is an unusually long commentary, but it could be much longer and still not cover the issue adequately.)

Since Jan 6, 2021, Democrats have been unrelenting in the mendacious narrative that the American Republic is about to be crushed by a President Trump dictatorship.   Their “Fall of the American Republic” narrative is in the same tradition as the Democrats lies about a Trump/Russian conspiracy … Hunter’s laptop as a Russian dirty trick … their universal use of the race card … and the more recent accusations of Trump’s ties to Jeffery Epstein accusations.   All bogus political narratives hoisted aloft by the hot air of the Democrats’ media blowhards.

As I have written throughout this period, the American Republic is not on the verge of collapse.  There can be no doubt that Trump is a transitional President … a disrupter of the left-of-center establishment (bureaucratic, administrative state or deep state, as you prefer) that has maintained and expanded its supremacy in Washington since Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.  The main characteristic of the that elitist establishment has been a consistent flow of increasing power, people and taxpayer money to the federal government.

The existence of the American democratic republic is not under threat. The pillars and institutions of liberty are strong.  It is only the defining nature of that Republic that is in question.  It is not the Republic, itself, but the issue of federalism – the balance of power between the federal government and the several states.

Like other presidential disrupters – Lincoln, Wilson, FDR and Reagan — Trump is testing the constitutional limits of presidential powers in their own right and in terms of the relationship with the legislative and judicial branches.  He challenges the power of the entrenched bureaucracy.  Conversely, FDR disrupted electoral power and states’ rights to build an empower the bureaucracy by disrupting the constitutional limits placed on the federal government by the Founders and their Constitution.

Those on the left – who believe in the ever increasing power of Washington – are fighting back.   But their claim that the battle is existential in terms of American democracy — and that they are the defenders of it – is political hogwash.  Nothing more than arrogant hypocritical mendacious political narratives crafted to concentrate, maintain and expand their power.

With that backdrop, let us undertake a closer examination of the Democrats’ end-of-democracy narrative – and why it is bogus … has been ineffective … and is so, so tiresome.

The Narrative

Since the events of January 6, 2021, the Democratic Party has leaned heavily into a narrative that paints Trump and the Republican Party as existential threats to American democracy. It took the unprecedented and divisive Resistance Movement, that began with Trump’s election victory in 2016, to new heights. 

Central to their claim is the accusation that Trump was attempting a coup to maintain power – and the events on Capitol Hill were an insurrection designed to overthrow the election of President Biden and install Trump as President-for-life.

That is so ridiculously fantastical that it is unimaginable that it would gain any credibility – and likely would not were it not for a complicit news media peddling the political propaganda as factual reporting.

The Foundational Lie

What happened on Capitol Hill had two elements.  The first was Trump’s constitutional right to challenge the election results through constitutional means – including calling on the House to not certify the election in order to have more time to resolve specific state results.  Without doubt Trump was more aggressive and went further in challenging the stated results, but that was not illegal. Trump’s remarks, the public demonstration and the subsequent riot were never intended to seize control of the government.  Claiming Trump forces were stopped from seizing dictatorial control of the government was the foundational false political narrative.

There was not an insurrection.  There was no coup attempt.  What we saw was a classic protest (demonstration) turn into a riot by a small percentage of the protesters.  It was no different in pathology than the hundreds of riots that America has experienced since its inception — and less destructive and deadly than many.

It was upon the insurrection lie that Democrats built their accusations of unending and universal authoritarianism.  Their rhetoric has been relentless, hyperbolic, and thankfully increasingly ineffective. What began as a legitimate concern over the Capitol Hill riot has metastasized into a sweeping political strategy that equates Trump with history’s worst tyrants and casts his supporters as cultish insurrectionists. But after more than eight years of this drumbeat, the strategy appears not only exhausted by its own absurdity but has arguably backfired.

Hyper Hyperbole and Hypocrisy

To sell their false narrative, Democrats have gone far, far beyond the traditional use of political hyperbole and hypocrisy. They have engaged in the propagandist axiom that the more extreme the lies, the more they will be believed.  And the “end of democracy” is a whopper.

Democrats claim to be holding the line against authoritarianism, fascism, and dictatorship. The language they use is so exaggerated that it borders on parody. Terms like “Nazi,” “fascist,” “king,” “dictator,” and “authoritarian” are thrown around with reckless abandon. Trump is routinely compared to Adolf Hitler, Kim Jong Un, Joseph Stalin, and Vladimir Putin—figures responsible for real totalitarian regimes, genocide, gulags, wars and the deaths of millions of their own people.

This rhetorical inflation has consequences. When every political disagreement is framed as an existential battle for the soul of democracy, the public becomes desensitized. The gravity of real threats is diluted by the constant invocation of worst-case scenarios. And when Trump continues to gain political ground despite these warnings, the credibility of the Democratic narrative erodes.  And yet, Democrats not only continue their vapid claims, but they exaggerate them even more. Democrat claims of moral superiority cast unavoidable aspersions on all who disagree with the narrative — or any policies supported by the left.

The Political Class

Democratic politicians have set a new standard for outlandish hyperbolic claims, often with theatrical flair.  Every day they claim the democracy is crumbling and Trump is the evil despot who is ending it.  Here are just a few of the millions of such comments made over more than eight years by Democrat leaders at  all levels.

• Pres. Biden has repeatedly said “democracy is on the ballot” and warned Trump poses a “clear and present danger” to democracy.
• Pres. Obama said that Trump would “end democracy as we know it.”
• V.P. Kamala Harris, when asked, said “yes” when asked if she believes Trump is a “fascist” and repeatedly called him a “threat to the very foundation of our democracy.”
• Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi insists that, “Comparing the tactics of Donald Trump to Mussolini and Hitler is a very legitimate thing”
• Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Trump of “trying to destroy democracy from within.”
• Sen. Bernie Sanders accused Trump of “undermining democracy” and compared this moment to past shifts to authoritarianism around the world.
• Rep. Maxine Waters calls Trump a “dictator in the making” and describes his rallies as “Nazi spectacles”.
• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned that Trump’s “authoritarian tendencies” would “dismantle democratic institutions.”
• Rep. Jamie Raskin claims Trump’s rhetoric is “eerily similar to Hitler’s early speeches” and that he will be “the end of constitutional democracy.”
• Texan wannabe Beto O’Rourke claimed that Trump was “trying to dismantle democracy in real time” and compared his presidency to “the Third Reich.”

• Rep. Eric Swalwell warned that Trump would “execute political opponents” if re-elected, a claim so extreme it borders on libel.
• Sen. Adam Schiff, a central figure in the impeachment saga, has repeatedly stated that Trump is “the gravest threat to democracy in our lifetime.”
• Gov. Pritzker sees Trump as “a threat to our democracy”
• Sen. Chris Murphy said that “Trump is lighting our democracy on fire.”
• Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to Trump’s federalization of law enforcement in D.C. by saying, “He will gaslight his way into militarizing any city he wants in America. This is what dictators do”.
• Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner calls Trump a “stupid, racist, fascist dictator”
• Former V.P. Al Gore called the Trump administration and “emergent evil” and compared it to Hitler’s Third Reich
• Rep. Hank Johnson.  Another Hitler comparison, claiming Trump is taking America down  a “road to fascism.”
• Rep. Steve Cohen says Trump “more dangerous than Hitler”.

Is there a theme here?  And the list goes on … and on … and on.

These statements are not just hyperbolic—they’re strategically designed to provoke fear, rally the base, and delegitimize political opposition. But they also risk alienating moderate voters who see through such obvious exaggeration and fearmongering.

The Media Echo Chamber

Following suit, left-wing media outlets have amplified these claims without scrutiny. MSNBC, CNN, and other left-leaning platforms have become echo chambers for the Democrats’ Chicken Little falling-sky strategy.  So-called journalists routinely describe Trump in apocalyptic terms.  Here is a small sampling.

• Rachel Maddow (MSNBC) suggested that Trump’s return to power would mean the “end of free elections” and the rise of a permanent autocracy.

(You may recall the left’s claim that there would be no 2026 midterm election if Trump was reelected.  Once he was, that fabricated prediction evaporated. The lie was no longer credible.  But I digress)

• Lawrence O’Donnell (MSNBC) once claimed that Trump was “more dangerous than any foreign adversary America has ever faced”.

• Chris Hayes (MSNBC) sees Trump as “a direct threat to democracy.”
• Nicolle Wallace (MSNBC) compared Trump’s rhetoric to that of Nazi Germany, warning that his speeches were “eerily reminiscent” of fascist propaganda” –and that his plans “resemble fascist regimes”.
• Brian Stelter (CNN) claims Trump has declared“war on democracy.”
• Don Lemon (former CNN) warned that Trump’s rhetoric and actions are “anti-democratic and dangerous.”
• Neil Buchanan (Justia) wrote that the Trump administration is “replacing democratic accountability with autocratic rule”.
• Timothy Snyder (Yale historian) views Trump’s tactics as “textbook authoritarianism” and urged civic resistance.

These are only a very, very small fraction of the media people who have been peddling the end-of-democracy narrative for years.  These statements are not isolated—they’re part of a broader media strategy that treats Trump as a uniquely evil figure, beyond the bounds of normal political opposition.  This outrageous and divisive narrative has been carried by virtually every left-wing media host, panelist and reporter every day since 2020.

The Strategy’s Failure

Despite almost a decade of increasingly virulent attacks, Trump emerged from the 2024 election stronger than ever. He won the popular voter.   He won all the battleground states (unbelievable!) and improved his vote count in approximately 90 percent of America’s 3,143 counties, parishes and boroughs – and outright won 82 percent of them.  Republicans took control both chambers of Congress and carried over a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. The withering attacks, demonization and fearmongering “sky is falling” strategy appears to not only have failed to stop Trump or even slow him down but arguably supercharged his return to the White House.

Many voters, including Democrats, have grown weary of the constant alarmism. They see the warnings as politically motivated, not principled. The overuse of extreme language has created a credibility gap. When everything is a crisis, then nothing is.

The failure of the Democrat end-of-democracy strategy can be seen in polling numbers.  The Democratic Party and its leading personalities are suffering the lowest favorable ratings in generations.

Moreover, the doomsday strategy has allowed Trump to play the victim — portraying himself as the target of a coordinated smear campaign by the media and political elites. This narrative resonates with his base and even some independents who distrust the establishment.

Political Impeachments

In an effort to stop Trump, Democrats went to an unprecedented extreme — two dubious impeachments, they failed to have Trump removed from office — with one taking place after he left office peacefully on January 20, 2021.  It boggles the mind to realize that Democrats are promising yet another impeachment should they win the House in 2026.

The Cult Accusation

In an example of strategic malpractice, Democrats have extended their smears to Republican office holders — and even to the more than 77 million people who voted for Trump. One of the most persistent claims is that the Republican Party has become a cult composed of political zombies devoid of principle — blindly loyal to Trump. They dismiss legitimate political beliefs as brainwashing.

Calling Republicans a cult does not persuade—it insults. It deepens polarization and makes dialogue much more difficult. And it ignores the fact that millions of Americans support Trump not because they’re hypnotized, but because they see him as a fighter against a system they believe has failed them.

Democrats Promise More of the Same

If Democrats truly care about defending democracy, they need to recalibrate. The American public is not stupid. They can distinguish between genuine threats and political theater. Instead of relying on fear, Democrats should offer their own compelling vision for the future—one rooted in policy, optimism, and respect for voters’ intelligence.  They should treat Trump and Republicans with objectivity and balance.  The “end of democracy” narrative may have had its moment, but that moment has passed. It’s time for a new strategy—one that persuades rather than panics … which builds rather than blames.

The midterm elections are little more than a year away.  For a number of reasons, I have predicted that Democrats would take control of the House. If they fail, it will be because they continued doubling down on their phony failed “sky-is-falling” and “Trump is pure evil” strategies.  However it all turns out, rest assured that the American Republic and our 236-year experiment in democracy are under no threat – unless you consider the slow evolution of personal power away from we the people and into the hands of a quasi-permanent ruling elite in Washington.  Who are the real authoritarians … hmm?

So, there ‘tis.

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