After nearly a decade of being forced to take Trump seriously, Democrats increasingly call BS on the whole charade
Sure, Donald Trump is a threat to democracy — a would-be dictator on day one who has called for terminating the U.S. Constitution so he can hold onto power even after losing a free and fair election. But while draped in the rhetoric of populism, Trump and his MAGA movement are not actually popular; the man himself has never won more votes than the person he ran against, a majority of Americans twice rejecting him and his off-putting cult of personality. That he was ever president is more or less because a few thousand swing voters in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania thought it would be fun.
President Joe Biden won in 2020 largely by promising to a return to normalcy and baseline competency. In 2024, Democrats are making a similar argument but more forcibly: They’re pointing, laughing and dismissing Trump and his circus as a total freak show to which we can’t return.
You said it at the end there. Conservative means status quo. Which is not weird.
That’s the dictionary definition perhaps, but not what they’re pushing for. Conservatives talk about small government etc, but really it’s about rewarding the ingroups and punishing the outgroups.
They want to revert reproductive rights, with the government tracking periods and investigating women’s bodies. That’s weird af. They love the police state and mass surveillance, recording people’s messages and web activities is hugely creepy. It’s weird if a person snoops on you like that, and it’s weird if the government does it. They care way too much about what’s between your legs and which gender you sleep with, again, weird.
Edit: also just to add there is good weird and bad weird. Good weird is being yourself despite what the mainstream does, bad weird is forcing your viewpoints on others
These folks are against the status quo. Roe v. Wade was the status quo. Having a peaceful transfer of power after you’ve lost an election is the status quo.