Memo to Washington Establishment: No, Trump Didn’t Cause Low Public Trust in Democracy

Every day it seems somebody in the Washington establishment discovers another way that the evil Donald Trump threatens the survival of democracy and America. This week it’s Niall Stanage of The Hill:

“Experts are worried about an intensifying erosion of American democracy as Republican politicians, spearheaded by former President Trump, stoke doubt about the legitimacy of elections.

“‘It is very dangerous because it is sowing doubt in our elections process, which is fundamental to a functioning democracy,’ said Jennifer McCoy, a political science professor at Georgia State University and an expert on democratization and polarization.”

It’s now Trump’s fault that there is “an intensifying erosion of American democracy,” according to “an expert on democratization and polarization.” And why is it principally Trump’s fault, according to Stanage?

“Trump’s repeated false claims about the 2020 presidential election have become more and more shrill. … Many GOP figures have followed Trump’s lead on elections rather than rebutting his specious claims.”

Message to Republicans: Stop helping Trump destroy American democracy.

To be sure, Americans’ confidence in their federal government is at a low ebb. And who can blame them when more people have died of Covid in 2021 than in 2020, hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens have entered the U.S. at the southern border in 2021 (and even more are on the way), inflation is roaring, murder is at an historic high, dissident parents are being targeted as “domestic terrorists,” and the nation’s economic supply chain heads toward disaster as companies find it all but impossible to hire needed staff?

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