An Unpunished Attempted Coup Paves the Way for a Successful One

On January 6, 2021, we watched on live television as Donald Trump and several Republican members of Congress incited a violent attempted overthrow of our democracy. This insurrection led to several deaths, including police officers who later died by suicide. When Joe Biden was sworn in as President in January 2021, Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress. Instead of using their time in power to pass a resolution or bill banning Trump and his supporters from holding office under the 14th Amendment's "insurrection clause" (Section 3), they held hearings that concluded with a report and a referral to the Department of Justice for possible criminal prosecution. In the 2022 midterms, Democrats lost the House due to America's worsening gerrymandering crisis.

Attorney General Merrick Garland waited two years to appoint Special Prosecutor Jack Smith. While some credit the Democrats’ January 6 committee for prompting Garland to take action, the reality is that both Democrats and Garland wasted valuable time. In the four years since January 6, 2021, no resolution or bill was passed in Congress to enforce the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment. Instead, a group of voters and legal experts attempted to bar Trump from the ballot in Colorado, leading to legal cases such as Trump v. Anderson. In early 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that states could not bar federal candidates, and that applying the 14th Amendment was up to Congress. So, why didn’t Democrats act in 2021 and 2022 when they had two years to enforce the U.S. Constitution?

We need an honest accounting of how an insurrectionist will be president just four years after leading a violent attempt to overthrow our democracy. Democrats deferred to Merrick Garland, who then deferred to Jack Smith, who ultimately dismissed his Trump cases in November 2024, after Trump won one of the closest elections in U.S. history. This election took place amid rampant disinformation and the consolidation of far-right media, including Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, turning it into a platform for (pro-Trump and Russia) disinformation–the largest in the world. At the same time, Republicans and the Supreme Court over the years undermined the Voting Rights Act and expanded voter ID laws–a modern day poll tax, disenfranchising 21 million Americans. As Andrea and Terrell discuss in this week’s episode, the 2024 election was neither free nor fair. The institutions meant to protect us failed. As Gaslit Nation has long warned, an unpunished attempted coup leads to a successful one. The institutionalists and controlled opposition who enabled this crisis don't realize they are not safe either. Once a dictator is in power, no one can control them.

We also point out that George Orwell warned us about fascist bootlickers like Trump/Musk fanboy Lex Fridman, whose three-hour interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky can be summed up by Orwell’s quote: "Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."

Gaslit Nation officially calls on Lex Fridman to stop quoting Orwell on his podcast—Orwell would have hated you.

Want to enjoy Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, ad-free episodes, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit!

 

Show Notes:

 

Republicans just took control of the House because of partisan and racial gerrymandering. Here's how https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/16/2136410/-Republicans-just-took-control-of-the-House-because-of-partisan-and-racial-gerrymandering-Here-s-how

 

In Trump’s second term, evidence suggests corruption will be worse, not better Donald Trump’s first term was astonishingly corrupt. There’s already reason to believe his second will be worse. https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-second-term-evidence-suggests-corruption-will-worse-not-better-rcna179589 

 

U.S. to probe Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving' system after pedestrian killed

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/19/g-s1-29030/us-probe-tesla-full-self-driving-system

 

The Republican Structural Advantage Republicans start every election cycle with structural advantages regardless of the issues and all the other factors that usually determine who wins elections. https://prospect.org/power/republican-structural-advantage/

 

How conservative media helped the far-right take over the Republican Party https://www.vox.com/2015/7/30/9074761/conservative-media-republican-party

 

How Media Consolidation Paved the Way for Right-Wing Insurrection A battle playing out at the Supreme Court could make media monopolies way worse. https://inthesetimes.com/article/supreme-court-media-consolidation-fcc-echo-chamber

 

Media Consolidation Means Less Local News, More Right Wing Slant https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/media-consolidation-means-less-local-news-more-right-wing-slant

 

The Right-Wing Media Takeover Is Destroying America The purchase of The Baltimore Sun is further proof that conservative billionaires understand the power of media control. Why don’t their liberal counterparts get it? https://newrepublic.com/post/178256/baltimore-sun-liberal-billionaires-media-failure

 

The growth of Sinclaire’s conservative media empire https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/22/the-growth-of-sinclairs-conservative-media-empire

 

How Gerrymandering Tilts the 2024 Race for the House Facebook LinkedIn Skewed maps give Republicans big advantages in 11 states, mostly in the South and Midwest.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-gerrymandering-tilts-2024-race-house

 

Elon Musk Being Investigated for Violating Terms of "Top Secret" Clearance He has become a major liability for the government. https://futurism.com/elon-musk-investigated-violating-terms-top-secret-clearance

 

Elon Musk didn’t show up for testimony in a probe over his $44 billion Twitter takeover. Now the SEC wants sanctions https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/20/tech/sec-sanctions-elon-musk-testimony-twitter-probe/index.html

 

The Women’s March Rebranded and Reorganized. Now They’re Ready for 2025 https://time.com/7203169/womens-march-donald-trump-protest-change/

 

ABC Settles With Trump in a Case It Could Have Won https://fair.org/home/abc-settles-with-trump-in-a-case-it-could-have-won/

 

Why Gerrymandering Has Gotten Worse https://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-gerrymandering-has-gotten-worse/

 

The North Carolina GOP’s Latest Ploy to Steal a State Supreme Court Seat https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/12/north-carolina-gop-state-supreme-court.html

 

North Carolina’s Unfair Voting Maps Gave GOP Congress Majority https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article296319684.html

 

Judge agrees to dismiss Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case President-elect Trump faced charges over his handling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, which culminated in the U.S. Capitol attack. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/jack-smith-files-drop-jan-6-charges-donald-trump-rcna181667 

 

The lost year: How Merrick Garland’s Justice Department ran out of time prosecuting Trump for January 6 https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/06/politics/doj-trump-jan-6-riot/index.html