One day after declaring victory in the U.S. presidential race, Democrats started making Enemy of the State political dissident lists of Donald Trump supporters for public heretic and disloyalty trials. Haven’t we had enough over-the-top political rhetoric in the last four years?
Well, leftwing voices sure didn’t get the memo. Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin tweeted, “Any R now promoting rejection of an election or calling to not to follow the will of voters or making baseless allegations of fraud should never serve in office, join a corporate board, find a faculty position or be accepted into ‘polite’ society. We have a list.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in triumph, “Is anyone archiving these Trump sycophants for when they try to downplay or deny their complicity in the future? I foresee decent probability of many deleted Tweets, writings, photos in the future.” She mocked the response from those she wishes to place on the left’s “enemies” list, “Lol at the ‘party of personal responsibility’ being upset at the idea of being responsible for their behavior over last four years.”
Yes, a new project, mimicking GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project, vows to make sure we “Remember What They Did.” As Emily Abrams, one of the founders, announced, “We’re launching the Trump Accountability Project to make sure anyone who took a paycheck to help Trump undermine America is held responsible for what they did. Join us and help spread the word.”
Hari Sevugan, another list founder who champions support for Pete Buttigieg in his profile and is a verified Twitter user, tweeted, “Warning to publishers considering signing someone who led a campaign to get Americans to hate each other – you will face a massive boycott led by the Trump Accountability Project. Not just of this book but your whole library.”
Who should be “held accountable,” as their website demands? Anyone who voted for Trump to start with, they clarify, such as “Individuals who worked for the Trump for President campaign, Republican National Committee, and affiliated PACs in 2016 or 2020.” Also, anyone who worked for President Trump in “any role as a political appointee” or who donated to his campaigns. In a since-deleted tweet, one of the founders demanded, “Every Administration staffer, campaign staffer, bundler, lawyer who represented them – everyone.”
The list even includes nonpolitical staff in the Trump White house such as secretaries, calligraphers, and stenographers. “Holding people responsible” appears to not only include boycotting any books they might write, but as Rubin demanded, prevent them from ever being gainfully employed again.
Sevugan tweeted, “@kaitlancollins just reported WH staff are starting to look for jobs. Employers considering them should know there are consequences for hiring anyone who helped Trump attack American values. Find out how at the Trump Accountability Project.”
Circulating lists of political dissidents has always worked out well. This mindset of targeting those who worked for the opposition once in power is reminiscent of Joseph Stalin and his infamous show trials during the Great Purge. Once in full power, Stalin rounded up anyone he considered a dangerous dissident and engaged in mass arrests and executions, putting former Bolshevik opponents on trial.
While Trump supporters don’t have our very own designated patch to wear on our clothes and the trains are still empty, the same powerful motivator at work is these leftists’ self-righteousness and unshakeable belief in their moral justification. They are doing the exact thing they accused Trump and his administration of doing for the last four years.
The left has convinced itself of a great many Trump sins over the past four years, and this obsessive hatred and paranoia has fueled the belief those “responsible” must be punished. Toure, who considers himself a journalist, tweets, “If you’re a Trumper I hope the pain and anxiety you feel now is excruciating. You voted against America and for a cult leader who has no redeeming or admirable qualities. He’s a cretin who cares nothing about this country and you don’t either. You deserve all the pain and more.”
He justifies it saying, “I hate racism (white supremacy, white privilege, white victimhood). That’s a big part of my project as a lifelong media person. Trump embodied and perpetuated white supremacy as much as any major figure in my lifetime. My hatred for Trump & his supporters lies there.” Kathy Griffin reprised her severed head photo of President Trump, now viewed by many on the left as an act of righteous courage and sacrifice.
The motivation behind all of this is hatred and misplaced rage. We are fortunate to live in a country where the horrors of other political dissident purges like Chairman Mao’s Great Leap Forward and the brutal repression of human rights and crackdowns on political dissidents by Cuba’s Fidel Castro are thwarted by our Constitution. But even the Constitution cannot endure if enough people believe in these deranged ideas for too long.
What matters here is the language, the tactics, and the moral justification those on the left are using. It is the way they dehumanize their opposition and shake away any hint of humanity with declarations of the evils we have committed and why we deserve to be punished, shamed, and exiled merely for daring to disagree with their politics.
What is most ironic is the claim those who worked for the Trump administration and who supported him in 2016 and 2020 are somehow frantically trying to erase it all to save ourselves. The left is fomenting an environment where political affiliation is dangerous to the personal life of anyone who challenges them.
It is more important now than ever that political affiliation be protected under federal and hate crime laws. The left can’t see it yet, but it turns out they are the fascists they were waiting for.
