The greatest threat to our democratic republic...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

The greatest threat to our democratic republic is a Trump-like candidate without the cartoon character.

[CrispyQ]

1. +1

America’s Next Authoritarian Will Be Much More Competent
Trump was ineffective and easily beaten. A future strongman won’t be.

NOVEMBER 6, 2020
Zeynep Tufekci
Contributing writer at The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/11/trump-proved-authoritarians-can-get-elected-america/617023/

snip...

Make no mistake: The attempt to harness Trumpism—without Trump, but with calculated, refined, and smarter political talent—is coming. And it won’t be easy to make the next Trumpist a one-term president.

more...

At the moment, the Democratic Party risks celebrating Trump’s loss and moving on—an acute danger, especially because many of its constituencies, the ones that drove Trump’s loss, are understandably tired. A political nap for a few years probably looks appealing to many who opposed Trump, but the real message of this election is not that Trump lost and Democrats triumphed. It’s that a weak and untalented politician lost, while the rest of his party has completely entrenched its power over every other branch of government: the perfect setup for a talented right-wing populist to sweep into office in 2024. And make no mistake: They’re all thinking about it.

[PETRUS]

2. I would call that a great proximate threat.

In my opinion, there must be a deeper threat. In other words, why is there fertile ground for such a character? People like Trump (and the international equivalents, such as Bolsonaro) have always been around, but haven't always gotten so far.