I know what-if's don't amount to much but I still shudder at what-if he pulled off the 2nd term...

[Montauk6]

1. They made a lot of noise about packing SCOTUS by adding seats; who's to say that Trump wouldn't have attempted it himself to weasel even more right-wingers on board despite already having a majority?

2. Who's to say that Trump wouldn't have attempted to rescind the 2-term limit?

3. Who's to say he wouldn't have done whatever was in his power to officially label groups such as BLM and Antifa as terrorist organizations?

That's just a bare mininum of the possibilities had the Clown Show gotten picked up for a second season.

[secondwind]

1. I feel like I'm in a real-life horror movie.........

[Turin_C3PO]

2. It would have been a complete shit show.

Our democracy probably would have been almost dead at the end of a second Trump term. He wouldn’t have managed to stay in office past the next four years but he would have caused irreparable damage. Thank God we ousted him.

[exboyfil]

5. I think his hand picked successor would have had a walk in

for the Presidency in 2024.

[Mike 03]

3. What you are doing is still a very useful exercise.

Eventually, we will have another Trump (or Trump a second time). The next Trump won't be so careless and inept.

The next Trump may attempt to do what Viktor Orban has done in Hungary (or Bolsonaro in Brazil, or Modi in India, or Duterte in the Philippines, or Berlusconi did in Italy, or the Vox Party in Spain, or Duda in Poland is trying to do--or name your favorite democracy under siege, they are a dime a dozen.). In other words, exactly what you are saying, especially your first two points.

[exboyfil]

4. Number 1 is why the court packing was a flawed idea

unless you intended to control at least one of the three: Senate, House, and Presidency for all time. In fact it might already be too late. The current 6-3 Supreme Court will ultimately sit in judgement of any Court packing; and I suspect I know how they will vote. Right now we probably only control the House to a certain limit, and essentially the Senate is a coin flip for anything beyond moderate to slightly left proposals.

Number 2 - I think it is still in the works for one party rule with Trump or his successor as President. It is highly doubtful that Trump would extend beyond 2024, but his son or daughter would have been a distinct possibility.

Number 3 - That process was already underway. Also see state laws that are essentially sanctioning murder (firing into a crowd or running over individuals).

[marie999]

6. The 2022 elections will give us a strong sense of whether or not we will still have a democracy.

[David__77]

7. And he's still leader of the Republicans.

He may indeed run again.

[madwivoter]

8. I've found it interesting to look at the headlines from 4 years ago

I've been looking at the headlines from 4 years ago daily since last Wednesday, it's been interesting (and frightening in hindsight) to see what we had coming. I'm thankful every day that we have Joe and Kamala.

https://www.democracynow.org/2017/1/27/headlines