How Democrats really defended democracy

A year ago, Democrats claimed their campaign was all about “defending democracy.” Instead, they sabotaged it. Repeatedly. No party has done more to contradict its own stated mission.

Speaking on Jan. 5, 2024, in Pennsylvania, Joe Biden asked, “Is democracy still America’s sacred cause? … This is not rhetorical, academic, or hypothetical. Whether democracy is still America’s sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time, and it’s what the 2024 election is all about.”

In the end, Democrats pushed Biden aside, despite his uncontested path to the nomination. They argued their coup was necessary to save democracy.

Democrats would soon answer that question, but in the wrong way.

Their sabotage of democracy began long before 2024. In 2019, they launched investigations into President Donald Trump and continued even after they knew the charges were false. Never mind. They would defend democracy later.

Then in 2023, Democratic prosecutors unleashed four indictments against Trump. The timing, so close to an election, was surely a coincidence. But that was OK because they promised to defend democracy again soon.

Meanwhile, Democrats campaigned to protect democracy by concealing Joe Biden’s cognitive decline. They had done so for four years, but in 2024 they failed, especially after some allies admitted the cover-up. It was necessary, they insisted, to defend democracy.

Democrats also shut down their 2024 nomination process to protect Biden. Any would-be challengers, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., were discredited. That, they claimed, was how to defend democracy.

For six months, Democrats kept Joe Biden out of sight and denied any obvious signs of his impairment — even when they were glaring.

When Biden stumbled in his debate with Donald Trump before a national audience — no worse than what attentive viewers had already seen — they orchestrated a media pile-on to force him out of the race. One by one, party figures turned against him. In the end, Democrats pushed Biden aside, despite his uncontested path to the nomination. They argued their coup was necessary to save democracy.

Democrats then handed the nomination to Kamala Harris without a campaign or contest — just a rubber stamp. They deemed a traditional convention vote too risky, arguing it would slow their larger defense of democracy.

Democrats shielded Harris from serious press engagement during the contest they appointed her to lead. Rather than provide answers that could inform the public about a candidate nobody voted for, she focused on “defending democracy.”

Instead of appearing before the people, Harris appeared before her people: the elite. By their account, defending democracy meant letting self-proclaimed leaders instruct the public on what to do, what to think, and how to vote. In a true democracy, they argued, the “demos” must follow guidance from its leaders.

Later, reports revealed that many of Harris’ elite endorsers were paid to appear with her. Like a child wearing a pork chop to draw the attention of a dog, this tactic was just fine. Passing money among elites, they reasoned, merely fortified democracy.

Harris had plenty of money to buy friends if necessary. She outspent Trump, insisting that defending democracy doesn’t come cheap.

Democrats also pushed for third-party candidates to undermine Republicans in various races. They refused to remove RFK Jr. from the ballot, even though he had withdrawn and endorsed Trump. Apparently, ballot integrity mattered less than protecting democracy.

Democrats fought voter ID laws, despite broad public support. That’s what it takes to protect democracy.

They took a similar approach to counting ballots. In Pennsylvania, Democratic leaders allowed invalid ballots when they deemed it vital to defending democracy.

Democratic officials vow to oppose the new Trump administration, even though he won both the Electoral College and the popular vote. They insist they are still defending democracy and can’t help themselves.

In a single year, Americans learned much about how Democrats “defend” democracy. They revealed that democracy is too important to be practiced without limits — sometimes it must be protected from itself. We also learned that when Democrats say “democracy,” they really mean “power.”