THE REPUBLICAN PARTY under Donald Trump is obsessed with crime. In its efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, it has cast Democratic victories as illegal and illegitimate. In order to win elections in the future, it has passed a slew of restrictive voting laws on the state level that characterize Democratic votes as fraudulent. And to conjure a climate of fear, it has depicted Democratic-controlled metropolises as being overrun by murderers and overwhelmed by violence. The GOP wants voters to see crime everywhere—at the ballot box, swallowing cities whole.
Crime has long been a fruitful fixation for Republicans. From Richard Nixon to George H.W. Bush, “law and order” posturing from the right has sent Republicans to the White House and put Democrats on the defensive. Trump’s evocation of a mobocracy is couched in similar terms, but this time his party’s ambitions are grander and more dangerous. The Republicans are no longer trying to merely win elections with cynical, racially inflected campaigns. They are in the midst of enshrining that message’s logical extreme: a climate so paranoid that their own misdeeds seem not only reasonable by comparison but necessary.
This story is from the March 14-27, 2022 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 14-27, 2022 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Unmasking Diddy
The rap mogul shook off decades of rumored bad behavior with wholesome PR revamps. Now the allegations against him are his legacy.
Staging Sufjan
How playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury turned a classic indie-rock album into a Justin Peck-choreographed dance piece that's now Broadway bound.
Justin Kuritzkes Serves an Ace
With his first movie script for the erotic tennis drama Challengers, he has gone from struggling playwright to in-demand screenwriter.
To Brooklyn, by Way of Paris and Rome
A whirlwind week with Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri as she stages the brand's first New York runway show in a decade.
A Burlesque Family at Home
Showbiz couple Angie Pontani and Brian Newman’s high-spirited Marine Park house.
A Bistro With Shish Barak
Huda impressively balances its many influences.
THE 'DEBATE ME BRO
Mehdi Hasan's aggressive interviewing style landed him a Sunday show on MSNBC. Until he started talking about Palestine.
THE MAN WHO GOSSIPED TOO MUCH
For almost two decades, JOHN NELSON anonymously published blind items skewering the Hollywood elite on the blog CRAZY DAYS AND NIGHTS. Then his identity was revealed in the midst of a messy affair.
TODD BLANCHE IS A SURPRISINGLY COMPETENT LAWYER. AND HE'S ON TRACK TO KEEP HIS CLIENT OUT OF JAIL UNTIL THE ELECTION. IN DEFENSE OF TRUMP
TODD BLANCHE WAS looking for his man. Or it could be a woman, but probably not.
Self: Emma Alpern
In Outer Space Why do so many women believe their bodies are controlled by the moon?