New analysis exposes the 'grim truth' about the GOP's future

The anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection was expectedly a major topic of discussion this week. However, The Guardian's Jonathan Freedland has detailed a common theme in most of the reports: the timeline is being written in the past tense when the issue is still very much a problem.

Freedland also noted that while the insurrection happened a year ago, "the danger it poses is clear and present – and looms over the future." He emphasized the "grim truth" that still looms over the United States. "For the grim truth is that while Donald Trump is the last US president, he may also be the next," Freedland wrote. "What’s more, the menace of Trumpism is darker now than it ever was before."

So how could Trump still be a dominant force within the Republican Party despite all that has occurred? Freedland went on to explain the two premises that continue to fuel Trump's dark reign.

"This grim prognosis rests on two premises: the current weakness of Joe Biden and the current strength of his predecessor. Start with the latter, evidence of which comes from the contrast in how Trump’s fellow Republican politicians talked about 6 January at the time and how they talk – or don’t talk – about it now."

Although some assumed Republican lawmakers would be repulsed by Trump's actions and make efforts to distance from the disgraced president, that has yet to happen.

"It means that Trump’s tactics, his authoritarianism, have not shamed or repelled Republicans – as some hoped might be the result of 6 January – but infected them. What was once the eccentric stance of the lunatic fringe – that Trump won an election that more than 60 different court judgments ruled he had lost – has become the required credo of one of America’s two governing parties, believed by two-thirds of Republican voters."

Pointing to the findings of a recent survey, Freedland also explained how Trump's reign has opened the door for far-right extremism to be normalized. "Surveys show 30% of Republicans say that “true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country," Freedland pointed out.

Freedland also offered a piece of advice to Democratic lawmakers if they want to retain control of both chambers of government. "To turn things around, Biden can start with passing that key spending bill, even if it means stripping it of some cherished, and necessary, programmes," he wrote. Voting rights legislation, to block those continuing Republican efforts to load the dice yet further in their own favor, is also a must."

Considering how things have unfolded over the past several months, Freedland warns that it is important to not write Trump off as just a distant memory who no longer poses a threat to the country.

"One way or another, Democrats have to go into the autumn midterms with a record to run on," he wrote. "Defeat would not guarantee the return of Trump two years later, but it would make it much more likely. That is a prospect to chill the blood of all those who care about America – and democracy."