The United States is at a crossroads. It is a nation that stands ready to elect a man with dictatorial intentions who has the backing of the most extreme forces in American politics.
Donald Trump stood up at a rally Nov. 3 and told his supporters he would not mind if someone shot through the “fake news.”
Trump was referring to the reporters in the back of his rally. Those reporters have been a fixture of his rallies for nearly a decade since he entered the public eye.
Trump has become increasingly unhinged in the final days before the 2024 election. Even his former top advisors have turned on him as time has passed.
“Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure,” said John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff.
Even his running mate has had his reservations.
“I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler,” said J.D. Vance to an associate on Facebook according to Reuters.
Some of Trump’s recent rallies have drawn comparisons to Nazi-era events by Hillary Clinton and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“There’s a direct parallel to a big rally that happened in the mid-1930s at Madison Square Garden,” said Walz.
Walz was referring to a German American Bund Nazi rally in 1939 that was held at the old Madison Square garden.
For too long, Trump has been going after journalists. We are just some of the perceived enemies he rails against at his rallies. Trump has created a base of people on which he can blame for everything he perceives as wrong with the U.S.
Trump blames journalists for fact-checking him and telling the truth. He blames immigrants for crimes mostly committed by natural-born U.S. citizens. He incited a riot on Jan. 6, 2021 and he suggested that it was a mistake to leave The White House in 2021 after losing the election to President Joe Biden.
The first step to any autocratic takeover is controlling the distribution of information. Much like dictators who control their own media, Trump has Truth Social and an army of people sharing his unhinged soundbites on every other social media platform for him.
Trump hates the free press because we call him out on his lies. He hates the free press because we have the power to make or break his presidency.
It is not the free press’ fault that Trump fabricates his own reality. As the free press, it is our job to ensure truth is held to power and that the American government is held to account.
Donald Trump, if given the chance, will systematically destroy the American free press.
Any up-and-coming autocrat must decimate the free press by repressing journalists through any means necessary. Discrediting, jailing, deporting or simply killing us.
Donald Trump says he will do a lot of things, order mass deportations, persecute his enemies and go after the enemies within, even utilizing the military against American citizens.
“I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the — and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen,” said Trump, according to The New York Times.
There is no reason not to take Trump at his word.
“We have two words for American voters: Believe him,” said The New York Times Editorial Board.
I cannot find a single reason not to echo their words, as they are correct, you should believe him. You should believe every word he says.
Everyone in America could become one of Trump’s enemies within, everyone is at risk. Whether you fashion yourself a journalist or not, you are at risk during a second Trump term.
This story is being published in a newspaper that serves a predominantly democratic university, in one of the most progressive states in America. I hope that this story can remind people that this country once stood for a free press. We have lost our way but we must find our way out of this darkness.
One of the largest threats of a second Trump term is the end of the American free press. This will mean the end of our ability to hold truth to power and the end of the American people’s access to pure unadulterated truth.
