It's the democracy, stupid
'A clear and present danger to American democracy.'
The thread the House of Representative's January 6th select committee is pulling through the investigation to establish what happened before, during, and after the insurrection is based on the testimony and expert analysis of people close to the President and the Republican Party. This is becoming increasingly devastating for them since it makes it clear that the president knew beforehand that what he intended by having vice-president Mike Pence reject the certification of the electoral votes was not only unconstitutional but also illegal. The former president and his advisors expected that the vice-president's delay could trigger a procedure that would have involved states, and not electors, to decide the presidency based on the Republican majority of state congressional delegations.
Most Americans understand that what the president and his advisors were pretending to push forward had little chance of success. Nevertheless, it was deeply shocking to hear Trump's inner circle, including those who continue to spread the Big Lie, acknowledge he not only knew he would lose before election day but also after he declared himself the victor on election night. This has been the most explicit recognition of the demise of the Republican Party due to their failure to protect the election's results and the electoral system while supporting the passing of state bills limiting voting rights across the country. At the same time, Republicans remain silent about the continuing disclosures regarding the insurrection, leaving them as the main culprits of democratic erosion in the United States.
These hearings -so far- have signaled that this was not a 'rally gone wrong.' The more we learn, the more understanding we gain of what was a coordinated effort to ignore the result by subverting the process, in what would have been an outrageous violation of the constitution and, just like Judge Luttig warned, would have been a revolution. Luttig categorically assessed that the former president still represented a clear and present danger.
While people from abroad complain about the weakness exhibited by the Biden administration in the Summit of the Americas, the fact is that democracy in the United States continues to be under attack. And while the Republican base still supports Trump and trumpism, recent polling shows that 58% of Americans consider former president Trump should be held accountable for his role in the insurrection. We don't know if this is a reaction to the hearings, but in any case, it signals an opportunity to bring forward the truth the American people deserve to know about its leaders.
The recovery of American democracy is crucial to preventing its complete downturn in the region, especially when the illiberal tide -from left to right- threatens to erase the advances that once brought hope to Latin America. The election of Boric in Chile, and now Petro in Colombia, add to the challenges Bukele and Bolsonaro represent for democracy in the continent. A weak American democracy will be incapable of dealing with the extreme regimes engulfing the remaining democratic institutions.
If anything, the January 6th hearings should sound the alarms of what is really at stake this November. Americans will not only vote for their state and federal representatives but will be reinforcing -or not- the guardrails of democracy. If Americans fail to recognize those who are a real threat to democracy or, even more concerning, knowingly favor the illiberal candidates, it will be the final nail in the coffin of the American experiment. Let's hope the hearings help educate the American electorate on the nature of the threat.
