Richard London

State College

At recent rallies, Donald Trump has been saying variations of the following: “Get out and vote this time, but after this you won’t have to vote anymore. In four years we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not gonna have to vote.”

What does he mean by this? That by 2028 they will have “fixed” the outcome of the election so that they are declared the winner even without having the votes?

This is the standard form of a democracy-to-fascism transformation. The Nazi Party legitimately won its way to political power in Germany in the early 1930s via elections, but, once there, was able to stay in power by “fixing” (actually eliminating) elections so that future voting was not needed. Russia is similar today. They hold elections, but outcomes are predetermined so the result is the same whether or not people actually vote.

If the MAGA Republicans do have a scheme in mind to accomplish this, it would be better for them to keep it confidential until after this year’s election. But Trump is so undisciplined that he can’t resist bragging about this clever plan in advance. Of course, as usual, he doesn’t put any meat on the bones by explaining how this goal can be achieved. He likely did not concoct the plan himself, and probably does not understand the underlying strategy.

Hopefully giving voters advanced warning of the plan at this time can prevent its implementation by defeating Trump here in 2024.