Anti-Trump conservative Tom Nichols believes that there is "a ray of hope" in what he otherwise describes as a depressing victory for former President Donald Trump.
Writing in The Atlantic, Nichols makes the case that while there will be fewer guardrails on Trump in his second administration, there will be some potential political benefits to this.
"Trump’s reckless venality is a reason for hope," he argues. "Trump has the soul of a fascist but the mind of a disordered child. He will likely be surrounded by terrible but incompetent people. All of them can be beaten: in court, in Congress, in statehouses around the nation, and in the public arena."
Nichols also says that individual blue-state governments can do more to guard their citizens from Trump than is widely known.
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"America is a federal republic, and the states—at least those in the union that will still care about democracy—have ways to protect their citizens from a rogue president," he writes. "Nothing is inevitable, and democracy will not fall overnight."
That said, Nichols does not downplay the threat a second Trump term will bring — but he urges Americans to see this threat as a call to action.
"Trump’s reelection is a national emergency," he argues. "If we have learned anything from the past several years, it’s that feel-good, performative politics can’t win elections, but if there was ever a time to exercise the American right of free assembly, it is now—not least because Trump is determined to end such rights and silence his opponents. Americans must stay engaged and make their voices heard at every turn. They should find and support organizations and institutions committed to American democracy, and especially those determined to fight Trump in the courts. They must encourage candidates in the coming 2026 elections who will oppose Trump’s plans and challenge his legislative enablers."
