Member-only story
The Perilous Prospect: The Risk to Democracy if Trump Gets Re-elected in 2024
by Lauro Amezcua-Patino, MD, FAPA.
A patient and friend of mine has a story. He was working for some of the wealthiest people on the planet in the mid 1990’s and they confided in him a plan of some other very wealthy people to make Donald J. Trump, President. The idea was to rebuild his shattered reputation (he was bankrupt and desperate essentially) and have him appeal to white Christian Conservatives by stoking their fears of losing control of what they perceive as a White Christian America. The end goal, however, was to use him to derail the strategic focus of American foreign policy by breaking down the political institution that had guided such for many decades, the Republican party.
Admittedly, when he first confided this to me, I was skeptical. Sadly, it turned more prophetic over the last five years. So much so that is quite evident that Donald J. Trump, malignant narcissist, rapist, and criminal that he is, is a now a direct threat to the democratic principles and institutions that make this country great.
His recent victories in primaries and caucuses have not quite yet cemented him as the GOP candidate, but it very much seems like he will be. Of course, there is a process and his current legals issues may come into play, but the reality stands. The…