Are We Living in a Different America?

In the last few months of his campaign, Trump was free and open with his dictatorial impulses, as he talked about punishing “enemies from within.” Now that he’s won, have we crossed the line into a different kind of country? 

Staff writers Anne Applebaum and McKay Coppins help us learn how to find the line. Does this resounding win mean the electorate gave Trump a mandate to act on all his impulses? Will he make good on his campaign threats? And how will we know? 

[aarishowton]

I saw a guy talking about a Trump voter he had been talking to, a 65 year old woman, who voted for Trump because she “didn’t like that Biden overturned Roe V Wade”. I think at this point we need to accept that at least some portion of the country is just unbelievably stupid.

[ppss.]

I woke up today with this weird sense that the people around me and this country feel totally foreign, like they’re from another planet. I can’t seem to get rid of this feeling. I’ve never experienced anything like this in the past 40 years. Not even close.

[rfhurt]

They don't care and they don't notice. As long as injustice happens to someone else, people simply look the other way. We have a nation of not good people. It's been that way for a long time.

[c.a.savage]

"As democracy is perfected, the office of the president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain people will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." - H.L. Menken

[walterclaycooke]

What policies did trump advocate that would lower grocery prices?

[carolineharwood]

Very similar to the Brexit vote in U.K. Voters didn’t have a clue what they were voting for. They found out when it was too late.

[walt]

88% of black women voted for Harris and the vast majority of college graduates supported her as well. The education level of the voter is the issue.

[garybowler]

Apparently we've been living in a different country for years now. We just didn't know it.

[TokyoLamia]

It's hard to think of a society as great that passively endures nearly 2 mass shootings per day.

[alvinfell]

He doesn't think he is above the law ... he IS ABOVE THE LAW

[sherrygaley]

Anne: “that is not an excuse.” You’re the only one I’ve heard say that. You’re totally right.

[romanamattia]

Nope. You voted for Trump you get the whole package. MAYBE I could excuse your voting for him in 2016 becuase "you didn't know". 2024? You knew. Good Luck.

[lutinab]

Feels like Im grieving the loss of a loved one. My emotions bounce from denial, anger, shock, and deep sadness. Im also so ashamed of the standing Amercia has in the world. I knew the average American has little to no education on politics or history. Working in the educational field, I saw the decline of what was being taught. I see what other countries are teaching. The decline of America has been going on for many years. I pray we've now peaked. God only knows where we go from here. But I dont have much hope. Im too old, disabled, and finacially unable to relocate out of the country. But I refuse to call him my president, and I will do all I can to fight evil!!!

[Brent]

This authoritarian train won’t end until there is a global catastrophe.

[Madcat-bcqt]

I feel like I’m living in “The Twilight Zone”’ and I fear it will only get worse. Trying to think positively but it feels impossible.

[deepashtray]

Now consider that Trump is convinced anything he does is not only protected from prosecution but protected even from being investigated.

[kaycee]

On his path to full autocracy, let's see if Trump makes a strong push towards eliminating presidential terms. He's miraculously overcome nearly every obstacle thrown his way...

[jazzkatt]

Sure, we don't know exactly what this means. The thing is, none of the alternatives are particularly attractive. Maybe he'll do the horrible things he talked about, maybe he won't. The bottom line is, a majority of the voters were, one way or another, okay with the possibility. They may not have voted for him BECAUSE of his worst rhetoric, but they were willing to overlook it. And FWIW, at least in my neighborhood, the more hateful he got, the more Trump signs popped up. This is no longer my country. And it's not because of Trump. It's because of the people who chose him.

[stevenwiederholt]

"In the last few months of his campaign, Trump was free and open with his dictatorial impulses, as he talked about punishing “enemies from within.”
If You really Believe this, YES we are. One America is Sane and the one you live in Isn't.

[jaeolsen-xx]

This sure isn't my father's America or the one in which he raised me. I'm glad he didn't have to live to see it.