On July 27, 2024, Donald Trump spoke at Turning Point Action’s “Believers Summit” in West Palm Beach, Florida. As he addressed this Christian gathering, he stated “Christians get out and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed. It’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.”
What do we Americans make of this statement? To me, it is absolutely shocking. This has been spoken by a Presidential candidate who, in theory at least, is required to believe in, support, and defend the Constitution of the United States. Does his statement support these requirements? Not to me.
I’ve heard some supporters and commentators discount the statement by saying things like “This is just a classic ‘Trumpism.’ He always makes statements that are provocative to get his base energized;” or “He might not really mean it the way it sounds. He might mean that if he becomes President, he will fix all the nation’s ills, so that his conservative voting base will not have to worry so much about going out to vote, because everything will be fixed, and their votes will be less important than they are now;” or “He was clearly just joking.”
These explanations and those like them put “spin” on what is clearly a very dangerous pronouncement by Trump. Unfortunately, Trump’s statement is consistent with his past behavior, his past actions, and his overall mindset. He has already weaponized the Republican party, such that it is now considered “the party of Trump,” with Republicans generally doing anything he asks. He has also weaponized the Supreme Court by appointing several conservative justices who collectively have reached some very questionable Constitutional decisions, including giving U.S. Presidents almost complete legal immunity for their actions in office. And his current platform for President appears to embrace the concepts laid out by Project 2025, which will weaponize the Office of the President. In the past, Trump himself has stated that the power of the President is absolute: “When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s got to be. It’s total” (reported by NBC News, April 16, 2020).
Given his actions and statements in the past, is it really so hard to believe that Donald Trump has no interest in elections, believing that any election he participates in and loses is a rigged election? Since he believes that the President has unlimited power and the ability to re-wicker the U.S. government to his liking, is it really so hard to believe that he will remove Presidential elections from our national landscape?
If we truly value the principles of our democracy and the importance of the balance of power, Trump’s statement on July 27, 2024, should give us serious pause. If it does not, then we are just ostriches with our heads deep in the sand. And if that is the case, then God help us.
(For more information on Trump’s past actions and behavior, please read “Is Trump the Answer?” elsewhere on this website.)