Why Calls to ‘Save Democracy’ Don’t Work
According to this view, the 49.8 percent of voters who supported him in 2024 must simply be unaware of the existential threat he poses to our republic. The logic, to Trump’s critics, is therefore simple: Once voters fully grasp that democracy is under threat from creeping authoritarianism, then surely they will turn against Trump.Yet this strategy has largely fallen flat. The consulting and pro-democracy organizations where we work have spent the past few months with conservative Trump voters across three counties in Wyoming, Michigan, and South Carolina.
- ▪According to this view, the 49.8 percent of voters who supported him in 2024 must simply be unaware of the existential threat he poses to our republic.
- ▪The logic, to Trump’s critics, is therefore simple: Once voters fully grasp that democracy is under threat from creeping authoritarianism, then surely they will turn against Trump.Yet this strategy has largely fallen flat.
- ▪The consulting and pro-democracy organizations where we work have spent the past few months with conservative Trump voters across three counties in Wyoming, Michigan, and South Carolina.
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| Original publisher | The Atlantic |
| Canonical URL | https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/06/democracy-government-trump-maga/687535/?utm_source=feed |
| Publication time | 2026-06-13T08:00:00-04:00 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-06-13T12:33:54.534Z |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
IdeasWhy Calls to ‘Save Democracy’ Don’t WorkTrump voters don’t care to defend institutions that they see as illegitimate.By Katy Osborn and Scott WarrenDavid William / Bloomberg / GettyJune 13, 2026, 8 AM ET ShareSave Given President Trump’s disregard for long-standing political norms and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, many Americans fear that he is hostile to democracy. According to this view, the 49.8 percent of voters who supported him in 2024 must simply be unaware of the existential threat he poses to our republic. The logic, to Trump’s critics, is therefore simple: Once voters fully grasp that democracy is under threat from creeping authoritarianism, then surely they will turn against Trump.Yet this strategy has largely fallen flat.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Atlantic.
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