• Buffalox@lemmy.world
    0·
    4 months ago

    There would be 2 fewer extreme MAGA judges in supreme court.
    The same level of MAGA corruption and disinformation would not have been possible.
    January 6 would never have happened.
    Trump would not have the same legitimacy and platform to constantly scream his MAGA hate message.
    Trump would likely have been judged much sooner for the crimes that were revealed during his first campaign. So he might actually have been in prison by now.
    The widespread MAGA treasonous behavior to favor Putin and Russia and undermine USA would probably not be a thing.

    So since Trump has been THEE major driver of extremism and treason in USA for the past 8 years, I’d say no. USA would not be nearly as divided as it is now.

  • Count Regal Inkwell@pawb.social
    0·
    4 months ago

    Yes and no.

    Without Trump fucking shit up on a government level (the Supreme Court in particular), there would probably be less scary shit happening on that end. Would have slowed things down.

    But the radicalisation of the Americans began before 2016. Trump is a symptom, not a cause. The disease started spreading as early as 2008. The recession, the damp squib that was the Occupy Wall Street event was the inception of many political movements, both far left AND far right.

    That’s the thing people don’t realise. Even if Donald J. Trump didn’t exist, the underlying social tensions mean that inevitably someone would show up to galvanise far right sentiments, and the political estabilishment would have boosted them, whoever they were, because when the common folk are getting angry about their lot, then to the people actually in charge, a fascist dictatorship is preferrable to the alternative.

    • HelixDab2@lemm.ee
      0·
      4 months ago

      No, it started with Nixon, and his Southern Strategy. Reagan and the Silent Majority–which was fundamentally about racism and the desire to segregate schools, even though abortion was their cause célèbre–made it worse. And Newt Gingritch and the “Contract With America” really threw gasoline on the fire.

  • StaySquared@lemmy.world
    0·
    4 months ago

    Yes. The level of corruption would be insane and her fans would use any excuse under the sun to allow said corruption.

  • schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de
    0·
    4 months ago

    I read a lot more about US politics in 2016 than I do now (sorry, now that Trump has been president once, I know what it’s like when that happens and don’t worry that much about it anymore). I can tell you that back then it already seemed very divided from my (non-US) point of view.

    • theparadox@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      now that Trump has been president once, I know what it’s like when that happens and don’t worry that much about it anymore).

      That sounds disturbingly like you aren’t all that concerned about what a second Trump presidency would be like. It sounds like you think the first one wasn’t as bad as people thought it would be and the second one will similarly be better than people think. Am I misreading your words?

      • schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de
        0·
        4 months ago

        This isn’t too far off. In 2016 many people I read thought a Trump presidency would literally be the end of US democracy, possibly the end of the world because he would start a nuclear war. Those are not things that ended up happening, so I do not predict that they will happen if Trump wins this year either.

        • theparadox@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          4 months ago

          I see. So what has happened over the last 8 years as a direct result of his election isn’t concerning to you?

          • schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de
            0·
            4 months ago

            There could have been better worlds, probably would have been if Clinton had won in 2016, but it isn’t anywhere near as catastrophic as some people predicted.

            • theparadox@lemmy.worldEnglish
              0·
              4 months ago

              There could have been better worlds

              So… because Trump didn’t get unhinged to the point where he started a nuclear war, you aren’t worried.

              • How did you feel about refusing to concede in the 2020 election and creating uncertainty and doubt about the electoral process among a not insignificant minority of voters?

              • How about inciting an angry mob to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power on January 6th?

              • How did you feel about hoarding and hiding classified documents so that he could show them off to impress his friends and guests? Maybe even sell them if times are tough?

              • How about strong-arming the Republican party and installing his family to run it?

              • How do you feel about how his SCOTUS has changed the fundamentals of the US government?

              • The Chevron deference?

              • Bribery?

              • Presidential “immunity” for official acts?

              • How do you feel about the loss of the right to have an abortion?

              Do you think Trump, with the powers newly granted to the office he’s again running for, will act in his second term? Where is your line?