#authoritarianism
6 entries with this tag
Asked Directly Whether He Would Rule Out Invoking the Insurrection Act — the Law Letting a President Deploy the Military Against Americans on U.S. Soil — or Declaring a National Emergency Around the November Midterms, Trump Said, "I Don't Rule Anything Out or In. I Could Use It. A Lot of People Think I Should Use It Sometimes" — as His Administration Surges Troops and Agents Into Democratic-Run Cities
In an interview with Time published October 1, 2026, with the midterm elections a month away, Trump was asked whether he would rule out invoking the Insurrection Act or declaring a national emergency around the vote. His answer was a refusal to foreclose it: "I don't rule anything out or in. I could use it. A lot of people think I should use it sometimes." Asked more broadly about the limits of his power, he said, "I'm not committing to anything," and, "We're going to see how it plays out in court." The Insurrection Act is the statute that allows a president to deploy the U.S. military to enforce the law domestically — against Americans, on American streets. For a president to decline to rule out using it, or an emergency declaration, specifically "around the midterms" is not a neutral statement of legal fact. It is a threat left deliberately on the table, and it lands in a context this archive has documented: an administration that has surged National Guard troops and federal agents into Democratic-run cities on crime and immigration pretexts, that has spent a year attacking mail voting and voter rolls, and whose critics — including some on the right — have warned of a design to shape or contest the election. Time also reported that White House advisers have already war-gamed how to respond if Democrats win the House or Senate. A president confident of a fair contest does not muse about soldiers around it. This one would not say he wouldn't.
Trump's Multi-Front Assault on How Americans Vote — a Mail-Ballot Executive Order, a Bid for a National Voter Database, Citizenship-Document Demands, and a Rushed USPS System That Could Reject Ballots in Bulk — Has Run Into a Wall of Public Rejection: Mail Voting Is Popular Across Both Parties, Voters Tell Pollsters His Fraud Claims Are "BS," and His Broader Power Grab Drew One of the Largest Protest Days in American History
Trump has spent 2026 waging a coordinated campaign against how Americans vote — an executive order directing the Postal Service to restrict mail ballots, an effort to compile a national database of voters' private data, demands that registrants produce documents like birth certificates and passports, and, as a whistleblower recently revealed, a rushed USPS system that could reject entire batches of ballots. The stated rationale is "election integrity" and the specter of noncitizen voting. The problem for Trump is that Americans are not buying it, and the backlash has been broad and measurable. Mail and early voting are popular across party lines — Pew found 60% of Americans, including 37% of Republicans, believe people should be able to vote early or absentee without an excuse. CNN's chief data analyst, Harry Enten, summarized the polling bluntly: voters feel Trump is "full of it. Full of BS" on mail voting, the attacks "aren't sticking," and he'd be better off moving on. The rejection extends beyond surveys: the "No Kings" mobilization against Trump's imperial turn filled all 50 states with more than 3,300 events, among the largest single-day protests in U.S. history, and roughly 43% of registered voters say they support it, while a Navigator poll found 52% of Americans describe the federal government as "authoritarian." The through-line is that Trump is attacking a voting method his own voters like, on a fraud premise the evidence does not support, and the public — in polls and in the streets — is pushing back.
"No Kings" III: Largest Single-Day Protest in U.S. History — 8-9 Million Across 3,300+ Cities
The third "No Kings" protest is believed to be the largest single-day protest in U.S. history: 8-9 million people across 3,300+ events in all 50 states. Springsteen headlined. Nearly half the events were in GOP strongholds. The White House dismissed it as "leftist funding."
Ordered Smithsonian to Align Exhibits with "Pro-America" Narrative
The White House ordered a review of 8 Smithsonian museums demanding they replace "divisive" content with "unifying" descriptions within 120 days. Historians called it "authoritarian censorship." A Black artist pulled her exhibition citing censorship.
Gutted Voice of America and International Broadcasting
Trump placed 1,300 VOA journalists on leave and terminated Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Marti — networks that beam independent news into authoritarian countries, reaching 427 million people.
Banned AP from White House Over "Gulf of Mexico"
The White House banned Associated Press reporters from Oval Office events because AP refused to rename the Gulf of Mexico as "Gulf of America." The U.S. dropped to 57th in the World Press Freedom Index — its lowest ranking ever.