'Democracy Bridges The Divide,' CNN's Kayyem Says About American Divisions Post-Trump

CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem joined Boston Public Radio on Wednesday, reflecting on last week’s riot and her recent piece for the Atlantic, “How MAGA Extremism Ends,” about the path towards peace in the U.S.

“It took me a while to feel comfortable writing this,” she said of the essay and its stark condemnation of President Trump. “It’s very hard to admit to yourself, even though you believe it, ‘look, my president is the spiritual and operational leader of a domestic terrorism group.’ We didn’t learn that in fourth grade.”

But she concluded that with mounting opposition from members of his own party, major U.S. corporations, and bans across social media, the president’s influence is dramatically waning.

“We’re a divided nation, but very few people take to arms,” she noted. “Very few people in his group are willing to blow things up – we should remember that.”

She added, “Democracy bridges the divide. You have better politicians, you have ways in which we build our communities, even when we have political differences.”

Juliette Kayyem is an analyst for CNN, former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and faculty chair of the homeland security program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.