"White men will still fight!" Trump supporters are not going to give up

The political situation in America was by no means resolved with Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election. In any case, neither Trump himself nor his supporters are going to lay down their arms. So, two days ago, former US President Donald Trump sarcastically asked how the investigation of the surveillance of his campaign headquarters in 2016 was going on.

The operation is being investigated by Special Attorney John Durham.

Where is Durham? Does he still live and breathe? Will there ever be a Durham report? " - reads the full text of the statement circulated by Trump.

As you know, during the 2016 election campaign, federal authorities were investigating the Trump headquarters for possible links between Trump and his aides with Russia. Trump accuses the then Barack Obama administration of spying on him as a political adversary. Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, who had already been investigating the "Russian case" for two years under Trump, confirmed the accusations of the special services against Russia of interfering in the elections (Moscow denies this), but found no evidence of Trump's "conspiracy" with Russia, the existence of which is also denied in the Kremlin. and in the White House. Durham was appointed by the US Department of Justice to investigate potential violations during the 2016 election campaign.

Analyst Sabirjan Badretdinov writes in his publication about the opportunities for the Republicans who have not resigned themselves to the defeat of their leader:

“After Biden was elected president, we, the Democrats, calmed down a bit and breathed a sigh of relief: democracy in the United States was saved! During the Trump presidency, our nerves were on edge. At some moments it seemed that the system of democracy in the country was in danger and that the United States was rushing at full steam towards authoritarianism. Fortunately, the threat has passed. At least, many people have such an impression.

But has the threat really passed?

The events of the past three months show that the struggle to preserve democracy is just unfolding. The reason is that there is an escalation of attempts by Republicans to undermine our electoral system, to make it more vulnerable to fraud.

What's happening?

An article in The New York Times, March 27, 2021, explains the strategy of Republicans who have campaigned in many states to curtail voters' rights, especially African Americans and Latinos, two groups that traditionally vote more often for Democrats.

Legislatures in Republican-controlled states are pushing bills aimed at lowering the turnout and participation of racial minorities in elections. For example, if they succeed, in some states additional IDs with photographs will be required to participate in elections, in others it will be impossible to vote by mail, and in others, so-called drop boxes will be removed from the streets. Etc.

In states where Republicans are governors, such bills can easily turn into laws - just before the 2022 midterm elections. Of course, some of these laws will be challenged in federal courts - all the way to the Supreme Court. But, as we remember, Trump, during his tenure, paid special attention to filling the highest echelons of the judiciary with his supporters. So the hopes of the Democrats for the courts may be illusory.

At the same time, the Republicans justify their actions with the alleged concern to prevent fraud.

Another way to reduce the turnout and the degree of participation in elections of voters undesirable for Republicans is jerrimandering (arbitrary demarcation of electoral districts in order to artificially change the balance of political forces in them). As a rule, demarcation occurs every ten years, in connection with the results of the population census. Therefore, all the machinations of the Republicans in this area can lead to long-term consequences.

Republicans understand that long-term demographic changes in the United States are not in their favor and are doing everything possible to ensure that the core of their electorate - white men - always remains in a privileged position. Without any kind of fraud, Republicans simply cannot win elections in the long run.

Now Republicans are focusing their efforts on punishing those party members who dared to follow the letter of the law during the 2020 elections, rather than Trump's demands to annul the unfavorable election results in some states.

Democrats are trying to resist all of this, but in the states controlled by the Republicans, they have little leverage.

Some Democrats see prospects in the struggle to grant state status to the District of Columbia, which traditionally votes for the Democratic Party. In that case, Democrats would almost certainly get two Democratic Senators in addition to the current Senate majority of one vote. But because of the filibuster, such a measure would be difficult to implement.

Another Democratic dream is to endow Puerto Rico (formally a state associated with the United States) with the status of a state, but this is also unlikely, since Puerto Ricans, for various reasons, prefer their current status.

It seems that it is too early for supporters of the preservation of democracy in the United States to relax. Trump's departure from the presidency does not mean that his supporters have come to terms with defeat. At the local level - at the state level - they can do much more trouble..."