A Constant Torrent of Authoritarian Arrogance, Corruption, and Complicity

American politics is an exasperating, frenzied, and acutely dangerous mess. Let’s sort through the events of the past week to separate what matters from what does not.

By Thomas Zimmer, October 26, 2025

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It’s an indication of how bad things are in America that we never get to dwell on anything. Millions took to the streets to protest the authoritarian assault of the Trumpist government last weekend. But the discourse quickly moved on. As the new week began, Trump started tearing down the east wing of the White House. He is now also collecting bribes he wants to use to pay the military during the shutdown (Opens in a new window), which is not only illegal, but also incredibly dangerous: The president is attempting to privatize the armed forces he has instructed to go after the “enemy within” – what could go wrong! The shutdown, lest we forget, is still going on, providing the pretext for an escalating sabotage of the modern state. Meanwhile, every day brings more images of people being abducted and citizens being harassed (Opens in a new window) by masked agents of the state – fascistic goons, enabled by the authoritarian regime in power to go on a lawless rampage across the country. I had to look it up: It has only been ten days since the Supreme Court heard arguments in Louisiana v Callais (Opens in a new window), the case the rightwing majority will likely use to nullify whatever is left of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. That feels like an eternity ago. So much is happening, on so many levels – even though this is literally my job, meaning I get to spend all day on this, attempting to keep up with U.S. politics often feels overwhelming.

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I have been asking myself what I can do to help provide orientation, a sense of the big picture. As you know, here at Democracy Americana, I publish long-form essays that combine political analysis and historical perspective to explore the political conflict and situate it in the broader context of democracy’s contested history. But these pieces take time to research and write – they are generally a little more detached from the news and the day-to-day barrage with which we are being confronted. Therefore, I want to complement these deep dives with pieces that are a little quicker and nimbler, more geared towards commenting on the events as they unfold, intended less as an exhaustive exploration and more as a diary of sorts.

Today I am starting what will hopefully be a regular feature going forward: I want to sort through the frenzy of the past week, try to draw connections, assign meaning, provide context and hopefully orientation. If nothing else, it is my attempt to bear witness and perhaps create, over time, a record of our extraordinary moment. I hope it will help myself and my readers get some solid ground under our feet, allow us to anchor our sense of what is happening, maybe give ourselves something to look back at a month from now, six months, a year, and compare: What did we see clearly, what did we miss? It will never be a comprehensive list, obviously. Think of it as a selective chronicle, a reflection on what I believe deserves our attention, and perhaps an attempt to discern that which is significant amidst a whole lot of noise and fury.

In this first installment of what I tentatively call “For the Record”: The New York Times did not think the No Kings protests were all that significant – which is indicative of how much mainstream institutions have bought into the idea that only Trump and his supporters represent “real America”; Trump is demolishing the White House – which is far from the worst thing this regime is doing, yet significant nonetheless as it really captures Trump’s authoritarian pretensions; and finally, some thoughts on why the pervasive idea that Trump somehow deserves deference for what he is doing because that’s what “people voted for” gets the idea of democracy all wrong and merely perpetuates the Trumpist claim that they have a “mandate” to tear down the Republic.

According to the New York Times, only MAGA gets to represent “the people”

As you may recall, about seven million people joined the No Kings protests last week, united in opposition to Trump’s authoritarian assault. It was the largest single-day protest since at least the early 1970s. That sounds like a pretty big deal, doesn’t it? Well, it turns out the nation’s paper of record disagrees. Remarkably, the New York Times decided the protests did not deserve to be featured prominently on their home page (Opens in a new window) the day after and generally provided very little coverage (Opens in a new window).

Before you say: “Who cares about the New York Times?”, remember that a lot of people, for better or worse, very much do. Its impact goes far beyond those who are subscribed or actively read it. Among its audience are a lot of people in positions to influence the interpretations and perceptions of others around them. And not just in the United States: In almost every interview I have done with international media (and it’s been a few this year!), I was asked to explain why there are, supposedly, no protests? Just this past week, right after No Kings last Saturday, I was asked some version of “Where are the protests?” in three separate conversations with German media. I guarantee you that the number one source of information, certainly the most trusted one, for all of them is the New York Times. 

The decision to not cover No Kings as an enormously significant event is, first and foremost, a drastic journalistic failure. I am not talking about the Times failing to defend democracy. I don’t even think we need them to join the resistance. We need them to do their jobs. At its core, journalism is the task to select, from the myriad events and developments, those which deserve the attention of the public and decide on a presentation and framing that best contribute to an adequate understanding of what is shaping the polity. By any reasonable standard, they failed to do that here. 

This should have been an easy one: Largest protests in recent history, a massive mobilization against a government that had declared all forms of dissent illegitimate… So, what happened?