Mother Jones illustration; David Zalubowski/AP, Patrick Semansky/AP, Alex Brandon/AP, Mihoko Owada/AP
The below article first appeared in David Corn’s newsletter, Our Land. The newsletter comes out twice a week (most of the time) and provides behind-the-scenes stories and articles about politics, media, and culture. Subscribing costs just $5 a month—but you can sign up for a free 30-day trial.
On Monday, the three wealthiest men in the world—Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg—are scheduled to be at the Capitol as honored guests for Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, seated where four years ago Christian nationalists, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, militia members, and other extremists, incited by his brazen lies about the 2020 election, violently attacked Congress to overturn American democracy and keep Trump in power. This transition—from brownshirts to billionaires—encapsulates what has gone wrong. It is a clear signal that the United States is broken.
All organisms and entities require defense systems to survive. The same is true for a democracy. Yet the US political system has elevated to its highest position the most potent threat to its existence since the traitorous rebels of the Confederacy. On January 20, 2025, the convicted felon who takes the presidential oath of office to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States” will be a demagogic autocrat-wannabe who violated that oath during his first presidential term. Trump defied that vow by falsely declaring victory in 2020 before the votes were tallied, by concocting secret schemes to thwart the popular will and remain in the White House, and by initially doing nothing when his marauders assaulted the Capitol, hoping he could exploit this horrifying act of domestic terrorism as part of his plot to extend his reign.
The recently released final report of special counsel Jack Smith depicts a harrowing scene from that day:
After his speech [in the Ellipse], Mr. Trump returned to the White House and, at around 1:30 p.m., settled in the dining room off of the Oval Office. There, he watched television news coverage of events at the Capitol and reviewed Twitter on his phone. When the angry crowd advanced on the Capitol building and breached it at around 2:13 p.m., forcing the Senate to recess, several of Mr. Trump’s advisors rushed to the dining room and told him that a riot had started at the Capitol and that rioters were in the building. Over the course of the afternoon, they forcefully urged Mr. Trump to issue calming messages to his supporters. Mr. Trump resisted, repeatedly remarking that the people at the Capitol were angry because the election had been stolen.
Put aside all the skullduggery and deceit Trump engaged in to illegitimately retain the presidency: His decision to take no action as a mob stormed the Capitol to halt the congressional certification of the election was an unconscionable abandonment of his constitutional duties and a profound betrayal of the nation. When informed that his vice president, Mike Pence, who had refused Trump’s entreaties to thwart the certification, was in danger from the rioters, Trump replied, “So what?”
This may be old news. But it defines the gravity of this moment. The authoritarian-minded Trump who nearly blew up the most powerful democracy in modern history is again being handed the keys to the republic. It’s as if the American political system has a death wish. It could not neutralize this threat from within.
That’s due to several reasons, most notably, the cowardice of Trump’s fellow Republicans, who dared not confront him, and the lack of concern among tens of millions of voters (and many non-voters) regarding Trump’s previous actions and the danger he now presents. In our intensely divided nation, in which grievances and tribalism are bolstered by disinformation and the discourse distorted by social media and agenda-driven partisan media, millions of voters did not view Trump as a risk and accepted or excused his many false and absurd claims. (“They’re eating the dogs…They’re eating the cats.”)
Trump’s 2024 election effort was more a disinformation crusade than a conventional political campaign—a natural outgrowth of his peddling of the Big Lie about the prior presidential election. The falsehoods served him well and protected him from the accurate charge that he imperiled democracy. The Democrats failed to make that fundamental aspect of this election a salient issue for enough voters. The price of eggs—which was dropping—mattered more. As did, for some voters, the fearmongering about migrants and crime, as well as the race and gender of Vice President Kamala Harris. The Biden-Harris accomplishments—bipartisan legislation to boost manufacturing and infrastructure revitalization, the management of the Covid vaccination program, the lowering of inflation, a rise in employment—were no match for a politics of hatred and anger. And the warnings about Trump and democracy did not sway a majority.
So the authoritarian virus that Trump represents has reinfected the political body. This time it’s worse. He has made clear his autocratic intent, with much of it spelled out in Project 2025. There can be no mistaking that he harbors tyrannical impulses and that he desires to consolidate power so he can visit revenge upon his foes and detractors (real and imagined) and provide safe space for his robber-baron allies and grifting cronies. Despite this—or due to this—he is being legitimized by the richest and the most influential Americans.
The symbolism is thunderously loud. Instead of QAnon shaman Jacob Chansley—the spear-carrying, face-painted, bare-chested Trumpster who wore a horned fur hat when he led January 6 rioters into the Capitol and who was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his participation in the assault—Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg will this time be the iconic figures at the Capitol. Their presence will shower nearly a trillion dollars’ worth of legitimacy upon Trump—a demonstration that he has triumphed over decency and the rule of law and is now fully accepted and feared by the well-heeled and the powerful, by corporate America, by the establishment. We are witnessing a melding of oligarchy and Trumpism. (In the days before the ceremony, there was a host of parties throughout Washington, DC, mounted by tech aristocrats to celebrate Trump’s inauguration.)
Trump has indeed triggered fright among business leaders. His passion for retribution—his willingness to abuse government to reward pals and injure those who cross him—has caused many a knee to bend. (Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has never contributed to a presidential inauguration, joined other tech titans in cutting Trump’s inauguration committee a $1 million check.) None of these bigshots want to end up on the wrong side of a tariff, a regulation, or a prosecution. They can see the obvious: With Congress controlled by Republicans who either fear or worship Trump, there will be few guardrails, if any. Trump aims to have the entire executive branch serve his needs and interests. And there is not much to stop him. Especially after the Supreme Court, buttressed by three appointees from his first stint as president, expanded presidential immunity to cover what otherwise would be criminal behavior.
With most Republican senators—maybe all—currently bowing before Trump regarding his appointment of unqualified loyalists and inexperienced MAGA extremists to the most important positions in government, a message has been conveyed: Trump is unfettered, federal agencies will do his bidding without a harrumph from the GOP-led Congress, and do not irk him. Moreover, as one might do with a mob boss, make sure to pay him protection money. Do not draw the ire of an emperor who demands tribute or who keeps a list of those who are naughty and those who are nice.
Accommodation—that’s what an authoritarian craves and needs. From business leaders, from the media, from influentials, and from voters. Trump’s army at the Capitol four years ago were radicals and fringe right-wingers. Now his squad comprises moguls and the Big Tech barons he and his followers once excoriated. A white flag of surrender should be flapping next to Old Glory. They are broadcasting a dangerous signal—resistance is futile—when a healthy democracy demands the opposite.
The American political system could not rid itself of Trump, and now the powerful, scared magnates who seek to protect and advance their own interests flock to his side and bolster his status and position. In doing so, they intensify the threat at hand. They make a dark day for America even darker.
