Aging President Donald Trump with his cankles, slurred speech, drooping face and reports of a collapsing circulatory system is not the threat to democracy it once was, say a panel of New York Times columnist. The real threat, they say, is the power structure that put him in place — and could soon install another Trumpy president.During a panel discussion, columnist David French admitted that the MAGA movement is already “wanting to have a life after Donald Trump.”“If you look at [White House Advisor] Stephen Miller’s side of things, in many ways, what we’re seeing and reporting is demonstrating is that he’s often more ruthless than Trump’s own instincts. This is a big part of MAGA — they’re more vicious, more cruel — even than Donald Trump,” said French.French added that the personalities behind MAGA, also unlike Trump, “have a greater degree of sophistication.”“I always object when people call Trump dumb — but when you’re talking about political sophistication, turning around the next corner, I don’t think Trump thinks in those lines,” French told the panel. “But I think MAGA is fully aware of what it has done. They are governing as if they will never lose power, and they’re very keenly aware of that.”While Trump is determined to pursue his debunked argument that he actually won the 2020 election, and to raid old Fulton County ballots from 2020, the shadowy figures behind the MAGA movement are looking to exploit the president’s bile for their own purposes.“When you see a situation where Trump is raiding Fulton County, Bannon is saying, ‘Get ICE all around polling precincts,’” said French. “While Trump is waiting for that phone call from [U.S. National Intelligence Director] Tulsi Gabbard [confirming his 2020 victory], [Alabama GOP Sen.] Tommy Tuberville is saying, ‘Get rid of voting machines.’ You’ve got this environment where MAGA is very focused on the midterms because they’ve been governing like they’re never going to lose power.”There is a cohort inside the administration that “is not backward-looking the way Trump is,” argued French. “It’s very forward-looking. So, I’m very concerned about the MAGA apparatus. I’m less concerned about Trump, the puppet master. … the Steve Bannons, the Stephen Millers, they have a generational project and I don’t think that they want to see their generational project go up in flames after two years, after 2024.”As example, French noted MAGA’s recent attacks on mail-in voting after Trump noticed Democrats overtaking Republican in-person voters as mail in ballots get counted.“Watch for this: After Election Day, in closely contested races where Republicans are ahead, watch for an enormous effort made to call into question the legitimacy of all counting going forward after that,” French predicted.
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