The Election Debacle and the Fight Against Dictatorship
The election of Donald Trump, the first fascist president of the United States, is the culmination of the protracted crisis of American democracy.
This post is the first in a short series from the Socialist Equality Party and the World Socialist Website explaining the causes and consequences of the Trump victory and elaborating a political strategy for the working class to fight back against the incoming administration. Each post has been transcribed from a recent online meeting organized by the SEP and aims to provide a critical analysis of the election’s outcome and to outline a socialist strategy to mobilize workers in the immense struggles that lie ahead.
David North, national chairman of the Socialist Equality Party and chairman of the World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board:
The election is now behind us, and we are experiencing the aftershocks. The election of Donald Trump, the first fascist president of the United States, is the culmination of the protracted crisis of American democracy. Almost a quarter of a century ago, the Socialist Equality Party stated that the Supreme Court’s ratification of the theft of the 2000 election and the Democratic Party’s passive acceptance of George Bush’s accession to the presidency meant that there did not exist within the American ruling class a significant constituency for the preservation of democracy. Four years ago, on January 6, 2021, Donald Trump attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election by staging a coup in Washington, D.C., and seizing control of the capitol. It failed not because of resistance from the Democratic Party or any other section of the state, but because of the inexperience of the right-wing mob assembled by Trump. In the immediate aftermath of the failed coup, President Biden proclaimed that he wanted to preserve a strong Republican Party. Biden’s wish has been fulfilled. Not only has Trump regained the presidency, the Republican Party will control both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Supreme Court whose ranks include co-conspirators of the January 6 coup ruled in advance of the 2024 election that there exist no restraints on the exercise of presidential power. Trump is effectively above the law and can do anything he likes, which includes murdering his political opponents. Biden and Kamala Harris repeatedly warned that Trump represented an existential threat to American democracy. The ‘f-word,’ fascism, featured prominently in the pre-election discourse. But what a difference five days make. The ‘f-word’ has been preemptively sent back into political exile. Now that Trump has won the election, ‘forgive and forget’ is the new motto of the Democratic Party. There is no political ceremony more sacred to American democracy, Biden proclaims, than the peaceful transfer of power, even when the recipient is a fascist who had been preparing a second and more violent coup in the event that he lost the election. It should be recalled that Hitler’s elevation to the office of German chancellor on January 30, 1933, was also a peaceful transfer of power. The violence came afterward. Now, it is not the position of Socialist Equality Party and the World Socialist Website that the accession of Trump to the presidency is the equivalent of Hitler’s 1933 victory. The United States is not Weimar Germany. And the transformation of the United States into a police state dictatorship backed by a mass fascist movement will not, whatever Trump’s intentions, be achieved overnight. There will be struggle. Enormous struggle. But it would be politically irresponsible and actually contribute to the success of Trump’s aims not to recognize the dangerous implications and real consequences of last Tuesday’s election. At the very least, it is necessary to take Trump at his word, to accept that when he stated this election would be the last, that he would rule as a dictator from day one, that he will deport millions of immigrants, and that he will eliminate political opposition, Trump meant what he said. The purpose of today’s meeting is to analyze the November 5 election to explain what happened and why it happened. The focus of this analysis, a Marxist analysis, will not be on Trump, but on the class forces and interests that have found expression in his election. The essential premise of our analysis is that the coming to power of the second Trump Administration signifies a fundamental realignment of the American political superstructure, long in preparation, corresponding to the real social relations that exist in the United States. The fundamental social fact to which the Trump presidency will give political expression is that 800 billionaires in the United States have a combined wealth of 6.22 trillion dollars. The existence of this oligarchy exercising virtually limitless economic control over the United States economy and pursuing a ruthless domestic and global imperialistic agenda is incompatible with democracy. Facilitated by the bankrupt policies of the Democratic Party pitched to the affluent middle class at the expense of the working class, this election has resulted in a Trump victory, facilitating and realizing this realignment. What we are engaged in today is a necessary political autopsy to give the corpse of the Democratic Party the burial it deserves and to proceed to build a mass movement of the working class based on an international and anti-capitalist program. As I said, enormous struggles are on the agenda. The Democratic Party, as is its want, is gazing on the posterior of Donald Trump. As the saying goes, force not only conquers, it convinces. There is no doubt great confusion within the working class. Millions of workers voter for Trump. But, as we will explain, they voted for Trump not because they want his dictatorship, but they are seeking an answer to the enormous problems—economic and social—with which they are confronted. They don’t want war. They don’t want genocide. And Donald Trump, in the default of a significant serious opposition from the Democratic Party, exploited these frustrations. But the working class is going to make an experience with Donald Trump and all that he represents. The fight will come. But that fight must be prepared. It requires analysis. It requires a sober and careful approach to political events. The last thing it needs is panic and hysteria. That is not what we are presenting today. It is necessary to think, to evaluate. The time for serious politics has begun. And so, to initiate this process, we are going to have a panel discussion which will be based on three very important reports that will be given. First, there will be a broader political introduction by the National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party Joe Kishore, who was also the presidential candidate of the SEP in this election. He will be followed by Eric London, who will explain the internal dynamics of this election; what was revealed by the vote itself. Tom Carter will examine the specific threat to democratic rights represented by the incoming administration. And Jerry White, who was the vice presidential candidate of the SEP, will examine the developing class struggle and what it signifies in the weeks, months, and years ahead. So, with that, I would like to turn the discussion over to my comrade Joe Kishore…