2020 Election

Proud Boys' Convictions for Seditious Conspiracy Won't End the Far Right Threat

by Tom Mockaitis

Despite the conviction of leading organizers of the January 6 attack on the Capitol (which aimed at overturning Joe Biden's election), the extreme right will remain a threat, partly because of the flourishing of online channels for hate and partly because the Republican Party has framed the insurrection as legitimate political expression. 

Fox's Handling of the "Big Lie" was Cowardly, but Not Unusual

by Kathryn J. McGarr

News organizations' standards of objectivity have long allowed public figures and politicians to proclaim lies without pushback, leaving the public to be arbiters of truth and falsity. 

Fox News Texts Show Long History of Ideological Media

The revelation that Fox hosts promoted what they knew were lies about the 2020 election reflects what Nicole Hemmer calls a 70-year effort by the right to sow distrust in mainstream media. 

Trump's Incitement Against Shaye Moss over the Georgia Vote Count Carries on a Dark American Tradition

by Tera W. Hunter

Whether for casting ballots or counting them, Trump was quick to blame Black Americans for his defeat, carrying on an ignominious tradition of casting Black political participation as illegitimate and dangerous. 

Prosecutor: The Two-Prong Test that Could Determine Trump's Legal Risk

Isaac Chotiner interviews former federal prosecutor and current law professor Barbara McQuade about the prospects of a criminal case against Trump over January 6. 

Nicole Hemmer Reviews Martin and Burns's "This Will Not Pass"

by Nicole Hemmer

The book by two political reporters portrays the dire contrast between a Republican Party willing to do anything to hold power between November 2020 and January 2021 and a Democratic Party enmeshed in business-as-usual. 

On "Smoking Guns"—Yesterday and Today (and Tomorrow?)

by Jim Zirin

As text messages between Donald Jr. and Mark Meadows surface, it seems the last roadblock to a prosecution of Donald Trump over January 6 is a lack of will, not a lack of evidence.

The Right Isn't Just Rejecting the 2020 Election – It's Worse than That

by Thomas Zimmer

For a growing number of Republicans, the illegitimacy of an election reflects not the process but the results – Democrats winning. 

We Must Fight the New Lost Cause Myth Trump has Birthed

by David Blight

"Yes, disinformation has to be fought with good information. But it must also be fought with fierce politics, with organization, and if necessary with bodies, non-violently."

The Last, Best Chance to Bolster Democracy May Have Passed

by Perry Bacon, Jr.

Thomas Zimmer offers insight on the growing commitment of the Republican Party to lock in one-party rule wherever they can. 

The Big Money Behind the Big Lie

by Jane Mayer

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, based in Wisconsin, is a key connection between past reactionary movements and contemporary efforts to sow doubt about the integrity of elections and potentially place partisan Republicans in charge of counting future votes. 

Disregard for the Electoral Process is New and Alarming

by Donne Levy

How did the nation reach the point where one party is openly rejecting the democratic process? 

House Republicans’ Leadership Fight Signals A New Direction

by Zack C. Smith

Intramural leadership fights in Congress are nothing new; a battle for Republican leadership that began with the Reagan Revolution led ove a decade to a party committed to confrontation. It remains to be seen what the fallout will be from today's purge of Liz Cheney from the Republican House leadership. 

A Reason Republicans May Not Wish to Proclaim Themselves the Party of Lincoln

by Tim Lynch

The fledgling Republican Party needed to expand its appeal beyond its antislavery position, which remained its greatest asset and liability through the end of the Civil War. The party risks national ruin if it becomes the party of Trump and his Big Lie about the 2020 election results.

Trump Was Almost Re-Elected. What Does That Say About Us?

by Walter G. Moss and Rick Shenkman

Joe Biden's popular vote and electoral margins were large, but only a small number of votes proved decisive. Moving ahead, it is necessary to understand what Trump's ongoing popularity says about America.

How Biden used the VP Springboard to Vault into the Oval Office

by Joel K. Goldstein

Joe Biden's leap from VP to POTUS is a rarity. Vice presidents are often contenders, but seldom successful. Circumstance helped Biden break the mold, but so did learning on the job as second-in-command to become a more credible candidate for the top job. 

Trump Inflamed the American "War of Sections." What Comes Next?

by Steve Suitts

2020 shows the south is arguably still the key region in American politics, but it may not be a stronghold of white conservative politics for long. 

As Trump’s Presidency Recedes into History, Scholars Seek to Understand His Reign — And What it Says about American Democracy

Political historians Joseph Crespino, Matthew Dallek and Douglas Brinkley discuss the implications for democracy of Trump's substantial support and the likelihood that the record of his presidency will be controlled by allies and shaped by unreliable narrators.

One Nation, Indivisible: Really? Forever?

Richard Kreitner, author of "Break It Up" joins Burt Cohen's podcast to discuss the history and future of calls to break up the United States.

Black Southerners are Wielding Political Power that was Denied their Parents and Grandparents

While the voter mobilization efforts that tipped Georgia's senate races to the Democrats have been much-discussed, they capitalized on a long-term shift in the Black population to the urban and suburban south, a "reverse great migration" that will be politically consequential for years to come.