Anna I. / Red Phoenix correspondent, Ohio.

Colorado and Maine have made moves to bar former president Donald Trump from appearing on the ballot in their states. According to section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, those who have engaged in insurrection against the United States may not hold federal office. This ‘insurrection clause’ is the basis of the movement to remove Trump’s name from the running, and the overwhelming consensus is that this will escalate to a case before the Supreme Court. As the Court has a conservative majority, with three individual judges appointed by Trump himself, it seems certain that he will stay on the ballots. As the political theater of this situation unfolds, the working class must know that this is part of a larger battle between capitalists and workers.

Trump’s insurrection against the capitalist government being framed as a legal battle is a clever rhetorical sleight of hand that favors a certain narrative: the conversation has shifted from “what to do about it” to “did it even happen in the first place?” Discourse turns to a debate on whether the insurrection clause was even broken to begin with. The American public witnessed the insurrection on live television, but that fact will not get in the way of the ruling class. Yes, the government that Trump assaulted on Jan. 6, 2021, needs him. The capitalists want the policies that Trump will bring more than they care about his treachery. 

The desires of the ruling class are summed up perfectly by Project 2025 and their best chance at completing that plan is Trump. Project 2025, a manifesto cooked up by high ranking Republicans, is essentially a how-to book for setting up fascism in the USA. It would entail making the president all-powerful, accelerating court packing, prosecuting his enemies, and culminating finally in massive cuts to social spending. This would empower the capitalists to steal even more from the working class. Furthermore, there remains no Republican candidate that is even close to challenging Trump’s lead in the polls. He also polls better than the other candidates when compared to Biden.

It is worth noting that Trump’s campaign has sought to distance itself from Project 2025, despite it being the product of a cabal of Trump’s retainers. This is also rather odd since Trump’s own “Agenda 47” seems to be directly inspired by the former. Ultimately, this public distancing is merely a ploy to escape the public indignation that Project 2025 has brought upon him.  

When capitalism’s contradictions can no longer be ignored, and the people are so unhappy that they start to seriously consider social upheaval, the ruling class will always turn to fascism. As Marx observed in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, when faced with a decision to either reform society or surrender to repression, the bourgeoisie will always choose the latter. What is true for France in 1852 is also true for the USA in 2024. It is easier for the ruling class to accept becoming second-tier to the dictator than for them to accept a working democracy. 

The decisions to remove Trump from the ballot in Colorado and Maine should not have been controversial. There should not have to be Supreme Court intervention in a case where the defendant is so blatantly guilty. The problem is that the reality of Trump’s guilt clashes with the ruling class’s need for a demagogue. Whatever the outcome of this situation or the election, American workers must fight for true representation in government. In a real representative government, laws would actually be upheld for the betterment of the masses, and they would reflect the will of those who make society function. The only government that can give us this is a socialist one.

Categories: Elections, Government, U.S. News