Jan. 6 Has Surfaced America's Disdain for Democracy
About this episode
Recorded during the 2022 Jan. 6 committee hearings, this episode brings in columnist Jamelle Bouie to place the attack on the Capitol and the months-long effort to overturn the 2020 election in historical context. Bouie describes Trump's two-part scheme — first the 'stop the count' push and bogus election-fraud claims, then pressure on state officials and Congress through alternate slates of electors — and notes Trump never concealed his intent to reject any loss. The conversation traces a long American anti-democratic tradition, from the founders' undemocratic electoral design through Andrew Jackson's coalition to today's right-wing slogan 'a republic, not a democracy,' which Bouie calls intellectually hollow. Bouie argues the hearings reveal a deeper American disdain for democracy and makes the case that prosecuting Trump, however risky, is the least-bad option: failing to hold accountable a president who tried to break the republic normalizes impunity.