First, slowly the wheels of justice turned. Former president Donald Trump faces 91 criminal counts in four separate cases. Though he has done his best to gum up the works with frivolous motions and appeals, he in all likelihood will face trials in New York and D.C., the latter stemming from his failed coup.
He can play the victim. He can whine that the courts are interfering with his presidential campaign. But inside the courtroom, such complaints are irrelevant. Juries of ordinary Americans returned indictments; juries of ordinary Americans will hear his cases and render their verdicts. The courts remain a bedrock of our democracy, the most effective way to hold accountable those who betrayed our democracy. That tens of millions of Americans still believe Trump is a victim of a grand conspiracy is a tragedy; that justice will be rendered despite their delusions serves as protection against future coups.
Second, Trump has stopped pretending he is anything other than a full-blown fascist. “They’re poisoning the blood of country. … They poison mental institutions and prisons all over the world, not just in South America … but all over the world. They’re coming into our country from Africa, from Asia,” he declared, echoing Adolf Hitler’s fixation with blood purity. It’s no slip of the tongue; it’s now habitual. Whether labeling his enemies “vermin” or accusing outsiders of “polluting the blood of our country,” he has given up trying to conceal his vile white nationalism and authoritarian schemes. He’s now candid about plans to unleash the military on civilians, weaponize the Justice Department, round up and expel immigrants, repeal birthright citizenship, turn the civil service into an army of political cronies and hand Ukraine to Russia. There is no pretending he is an ordinary candidate.
How, then, is this good news? Well, Trump’s candor forces the media to cover the 2024 stakes: nothing short of the survival of democracy. It gives President Biden the opportunity to make the race a referendum on fascism. (“Donald Trump channeled his role models as he parroted Adolf Hitler, praised Kim Jong Un, and quoted Vladimir Putin while running for president on a promise to rule as a dictator and threaten American democracy,” the Biden campaign said in a statement after the latest outburst. “Trump is not shying away from his plan to lock up millions of people into detention camps and continues to lie about that time when Joe Biden obliterated him by over 7 million votes three years ago.”) In forcing the country to reckon with the potential demise of our democracy, Trump has handed Biden the most powerful reason for the latter’s reelection.
Third, the state of the union is strong. Crime is way down. (“The FBI data, which compares crime rates in the third quarter of 2023 to the same period last year, found that violent crime dropped 8%, while property crime fell 6.3% to what would be its lowest level since 1961,” NBC News reported. “Murder plummeted in the United States in 2023 at one of the fastest rates of decline ever recorded … and every category of major crime except auto theft declined.”)
And, to the amazement of Biden’s critics and most of the economic punditocracy, the economy is making a soft landing. Inflation, unemployment and gas prices have come down. Labor participation and productivity are up.
“Real wages have risen since before the pandemic across the income distribution,” the Treasury reports. “In particular, middle-income and lower-income households have seen their real earnings rise especially fast. And in the past 12 months, real wages overall have grown faster than they did in the pre-pandemic expansion.” Put simply, “In 2023, the median American worker can afford the same goods and services as they did in 2019, plus an additional $1,000 to spend or save—because median earnings rose faster than prices.” As Biden says, it’s never a good idea to bet against America.
Distinguished people of the year
The justice system can be terribly slow, uneven and biased. But thanks to heroic litigants, the courts sometimes move us closer to a just society and a more perfect union.
Let’s start with Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss, who endured unimaginable harassment and threats from Trump and his cronies. After telling their story to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, they persevered to obtain a $148 million verdict against former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani for his defamatory accusation of election fraud. This was the first and, we pray, not the last instance in which a gang leader of the 2020 coup was held accountable (at least civilly) for his conduct. Moss said after the verdict: “Our greatest wish is that no election worker or voter or school board member or anyone else ever experiences anything like what we went through.” Their tenacity makes that much more likely.
Meanwhile, E. Jean Carroll struck a blow for women and all victims of sexual assault in obtaining a $5 million verdict against Trump for his sexual assault in Bergdorf Goodman. He is now an adjudicated liar (found guilty of defamation) and rapist. Carroll stood up to Trump and his bullying lawyers, dispelled the myth that rape victims must react in a particular way and made clear that a long delay in filing suit is not grounds for letting the perpetrator off the hook.
In addition, five women and two doctors and later Kate Cox brought to light the inhumane, irrational and dangerous Texas abortion ban that, in some cases, nearly cost their lives. The women shared the most intimate details of their lives in suits seeking justice for themselves and others. They helped solidify public opinion against draconian abortion bans, perhaps fundamentally changing the political landscape in the world after Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
And, finally, let us not forget the prosecutors — Jack Smith, Alvin Bragg and Fani Willis — who made history in obtaining indictments for a total of 91 counts against Trump. They have endured abuse, threats, criticism and cynicism. Through it all, they have upheld the rule of law, which requires we hold all Americans, including ex-presidents, responsible for their conduct. Their robust cases have laid out a mound of evidence that Trump betrayed his country and unlawfully tried to overthrow the 2020 election, rendering him entirely unfit to serve. But it will be up to the voters to prevent Trump from returning to the office he disgraced.
We live in troubled times, but, fortunately, we can also benefit from a golden age of accessible historians who provide insights, context and even hope as we try to make sense of the world and, specifically, threats to democracy. Two historians in particular, Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Heather Cox Richardson have contributed to the public understanding of authoritarianism with their substacks, columns, interviews and books. Ben-Ghiat’s “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present” explains Trump’s rise in the context of 20th-century despots. Richardson’s “Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America” tracks how we got to where we are and how to think about the rise of right-wing authoritarianism.
I was delighted to interview both and invite you to listen to my podcast interviews. These remarkable historians remind us that Trump is not an anomaly, but we are not powerless to prevent an authoritarian takeover.
Every Wednesday at noon, I host a live Q&A with readers. Read a transcript of this week’s Q&A. I’ll be back with a new chat in the new year.
Guest: What’s ahead for the Colorado Supreme Court’s 14th Amendment ruling? Now that Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment, Section 3, applies to former president Donald Trump’s attempted coup, what do you see happening next? Will this give other states’ courts or secretaries of state the cover to disqualify Trump? Will the U.S. Supreme Court take the appeal quickly, or will it have to make its way through lower federal courts? Will there be a MAGA backlash? Why have other courts been so terrified to interpret the 14th as it is so clearly written?
Jennifer Rubin: The U.S. Supreme Court will take the case. In the meantime, other states might try to join Colorado. The GOP likely will rally around him. I suspect this will be a blip in the election. The criminal case in D.C. is where the real action will be.
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