The testimonies from last year’s storming of the Capitol, which will be broadcast live from Congress starting Thursday night, will unequivocally highlight the state of American democracy.
The House of Representatives’ special commission – seven Democrats and two Republicans – has already questioned more than a thousand people behind closed doors. Donald Trump’s infamous strategist Steve Bannon has refused to participate and has been prosecuted for defiance. The former president’s financial adviser was arrested recently for the same reason. Republicans talk about political arrests and describe the public hearings as a political game for the galleries.
They have a certain point. The live broadcasts will, unlike the Supreme Court hearings in 2019, be broadcast on prime time. Professional screenwriters have picked up to create maximum dramaturgical effect. Wide impact is a must.
Therefore, of course, there is talk of new explosives: Have the investigators come across compromising sound recordings? Will they be able to tie Trump to crime?
It was, to speak with Republican Liz Cheney, a “broad-based, extremely well-organized” attack on American democracy.
Under normal circumstances, it would not have been necessary. The evidence for Trump’s guilt is clear to anyone who wants to see. He declared victory before the vote on election night, tried to persuade individual election officials to declare him the winner in violation of the results and pressured Vice President Mike Pence not to formally announce Joe Biden’s victory in Congress minutes before the storm on January 6. Leaked text messages suggest that everything was planned and coordinated before the last votes were counted.
It was, for that Talk to Republican Liz Cheneya “broad-based, extremely well-organized” attack on American democracy.
The Commission is coming to emphasize it. It will appeal to the American people to take the threat to democracy seriously, highly recommend the prosecution of key figures in Trump’s circle, and propose changes to the law which complicates another coup attempt in the future.
And it will, by all accounts, fail. The polarization is simply too deep. A majority of Republican voters are confident that Trump won the election. The party leaders, who expressed dismay after the storming of Congress, now describe it as “A legitimate political expression”. Fox News will not even broadcast the interrogations. Republicans are still Trump’s party.
Regrettable factual politics is one thing – deliberate attempts to overthrow democracy another.
But there are actually reasons to have some hope. Beyond the headings, there are signs that the iron grip may be about to weaken. The recently completed primary election rounds ahead of this autumn’s congressional election showed that the ex – president’s blessing is not a must to win. In addition, Trump is no longer the undisputed favorite in polls among Republican core voters; not seldom he is now boarded by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantisa cultural warrior in the same spirit but without the obviously authoritarian reflexes.
It really is fully logical. When Trump broke through seven years ago, he shocked a party establishment that had lost contact with its own voters. Nowadays, the party thinks pretty much the same as Trump did then, so the options are more.
There are many obvious problems with it. A reactionary right is an incomparably worse right – both for the United States and for the world. But deplorable policy is one thing – deliberate attempts to overthrow democracy another. If we avoid Trump, much is gained.