Page 18 - Functioning Democracy News Today

Values of bipartisanism. and then trump arrived just to kind of soup it up and accelerate it. and they were ready. and this is where its this meeting of circumstance and charismatic leader. and the party has completely transformed itself. but the thing is that trump put it under a kind of authoritarian discipline that you see really in regimes. and so think about the unified messaging. think about how he punished people who voted for his impeachment. you know, they had to go buy body armor. all ...

Counted, and getting rid of the nonpartisan boards, and allowing partisan legislators to count, sham audits, all of that is covered by our bill, and it is a big problem. >> that was senator amy klobuchar, just one of several senate democrats who, today, argued that the time is now. to pass federal legislation, protecting the right to vote from suppression efforts by republican state legislatures. the senate will vote next week on the freedom to vote act, and president biden will head to georgia ...

>> in fact the alarms began going off just four days into the trump presidency. >> if true, this would be the biggest presidential election story in history. >> trump alleged that 3 million people had voted illegally in 2016. >> you have people that are registered who are dead, who are illegals. >> youre now president of the united states. when you say -- >> of course, i want the voting process to be legitimate. >> what im asking, when you say in your opinion millions of illegal votes, that is s...

>> if true, this would be the biggest presidential election story in history. >> trump alleged that 3 million people had voted illegally in 2016. >> you have people that are registered who are dead, who are illegals. >> youre now president of the united states. when you say -- >> of course, i want the voting process to be legitimate. >> what im asking, when you say in your opinion millions of illegal votes, that is something that is extremely fundamental to our functioning democracy, a fair and ...

Reports that he did not check on his staffers, it fully aligns with what he cares about, himself. the constitution be damned, his staff be damned, no one else matters, nothing else matters, except for his pathway to political power. were going to see our democracy crumble, just as doctor outlined, as he and other republicans, still trying to pursue that path. its all about self preservation, right now. we should be concerned, we should be frustrated. christina, let me come back to you, because a...

Identified himself. and he said leave your business card. well see if she calls you back. >> reporter: a few days later she posted my business card on her facebook page, writing, i will not be intimidated. but she never did call me. >> we are seeing a coordinated effort by extreme republicans to undo american democracy. and part of that effort is to win these key swing state, secretary of state seats. >> colorado secretary of state is chair of the association of secretaries of state. democrats r...

Lies and, you know, white christian utopia because both of them know that the gop, you know, cant win the popular vote. it needs to use trickery to have minority rule because it wont accept what we are in america, which is a multiracial democracy, something to be proud of. instead, it creates this universe full of, you know, fantasies and lies. and so donald trump, you know, they use each other. this was what happens with autocrats and their parties. its like a mutual using. and one of the rules...

Lot of -- some of the fraud allegations have been driving a lot of the threats that election officials around the country have been receiving, and so thats one of the other things we talked about in my interview with the deputy attorney general, something shes very, very concerned with, because obviously we have elections coming up, and states are saying theyre having a hard time recruiting workers that are a key part of our functioning democracy. kate? >> evan perez, thank you for bringing that...

As we close another night reflecting on the state of democracy and how its going to be saved, one thing is clear. its going to take all of us, everyone on the left and the right, to reach solutions. but how do we do that in the age of toxic tribalism and the big lie? perhaps its a matter of realizing the dangers of illiberalism. john avlon, that is a concept that hes going to break down for us in tonights "reality check." john, its an important topic. >> it sure is. it goes to the heart of what ...

And that makes it so were in an ir rational society and democracy just cant function. so, if we have a replay, if this continues, its going to hurt everybody. its going to hurt republicans. its going to hurt all journalists, all commentators. it really needs to stop if we want to preserve the country that we have. >> and what about these lines being blurred between those in trump media and trump government? you know, he enlisted fox news anchors as his advisers, hannity, ingram and so on. he hir...