An illiberal democracy, similar to Viktor Orbán’s Hungary, is increasingly the model for Republicans.

The first anniversary of the invasion of the Capitol approaches, our cold civil war grows hotter by the day, and the numbers tell the story. A majority of Republicans view the attack as a defense of freedom (56%) and just under half (47%) cast it as an act of patriotism. For good measure, one in six Americans approve of the events of 6 January 2021, including nearly a quarter of Republicans.

merica’s Reichstag fire continues to smolder. A staggering 64% of Americans believe democracy here is “in crisis and at risk of failing”. Beyond that, two-thirds of Republicans agree that “voter fraud helped Joe Biden win the 2020 election”. Disturbingly but not surprisingly, the Republican party’s credo is now “heads I win, tails you lose”.

Then again, the last time a non-incumbent Republican won the presidential popular vote was George HW Bush in 1988. The fact that recent Republican-backed post-election “audits” have failed to yield a different outcome, has not dulled the party faithful’s devotion to the false and Trump-driven proposition that the election was stolen.

From the looks of things, the Republican party’s fealty to democracy appears tenuous at best, no longer willing to accept the finality of the ballot box or the courts. Even after the insurrection, the majority of congressional Republicans opposed certifying the election. And the base is definitely with them.

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