By Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24)
Trump is “America’s Hitler.”
Those aren’t my words. They’re the words of Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance. That’s what he and many others used to say about Trump before they succumbed to his influence. Now, they’re proclaiming their loyalty by bowing down and kissing the ring of an insurrection inciter, a racist, a sex predator, a twice-impeached, four-time indicted, now convicted felon, and former disgrace of a President.
Recently, the Republicans held their national convention. Despite the delusional and deranged policies Trump has been shoving down our throats, he was met with thunderous applause.
Let me paint a picture of a second Trump term, according to MAGA Republicans and Trump’s closest cronies.
Journalist and historian Anne Applebaum aptly noted, “Often, for autocrats, the second time in power is worst.” That’s a chillingly accurate description of what we’d face with Trump, especially with the tyrannical policies in Project 2025.
If you haven’t heard, Project 2025 is a 920-page blueprint for a second Trump term, straight out of a dystopian novel. It’s packed with the horrifying policies MAGA Republicans dream of imposing.
It’s the MAGA Republicans’ plan to take control of this country and our lives.
It demolishes checks and balances, tramples personal liberties, and outlines a Trump power grab ripped from a dictator’s playbook.
Trump wants to fire up to 1 million people in the federal government and replace them with a bunch of extreme MAGA Republicans who would do Trump’s bidding instead of the American people and the Constitution.
And let’s talk about your wallet because you can forget about that with Project 2025. MAGA Republicans want to increase taxes on the middle class, gut social security for young Americans, slash Medicare, let employers stop paying overtime, and more.
They also aim to obliterate the Department of Education and eliminate the Head Start program. As a former Head Start educator and school principal, I find this vile and inexcusable.
Project 2025 also wants students in public high schools to take a military entrance exam in an effort to draft them into the military. However, it leaves private school kids untouched.
The cherry on top? They’re hell-bent on banning abortion and restricting access to birth control and Plan B. As someone who knew life before Roe v. Wade and almost died from a stillbirth, we simply cannot go back.
Now, Trump knows this plan is insane and unpopular, and has recently tried to distance himself from Project 2025, claiming he knows nothing about it.
But Project 2025 is crawling with former Trump officials and cabinet members.
All MAGA Republicans are trying to do now is lie about Project 2025 so they can win the election and begin to implement this draconian plan—just like authoritarians in other countries did when trying to grab onto power. But we cannot ignore their true vile intentions.
So, what’s next?
Trump used his first term to destroy the guardrails of democracy, stack the courts with loyalists, and make the truth seem like “fake news.”
So, while our democracy survived a first Trump term, it won’t survive a second one.
Don’t take my word for it. Trump said he will become “a dictator on day one.” This isn’t just a scare tactic by Democrats; it’s simply what Trump has already told us will happen if he wins. So, believe him when he says he’ll be a dictator.
There is simply too much at stake to focus on anything other than the choice we have in this election: democracy or dictatorship.
I’m choosing democracy every day.
