Recently, there has been a debate within American politics, mainly along partisan lines, over whether the country’s system of governance is a republic or a democracy.  Democrats have increasingly touted the claim that America is a democracy while claiming former President Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters represent a threat to it.

Simultaneously, Republicans have countered this argument, pointing out that the U.S. is certainly not a pure, direct democracy ruled by the masses instead of elected representatives, nor did the founding fathers intend for this.  However, CNN recently ran a story that suggested that Trump supporters labeling America a Republic constituted an “attack on democracy.”

The segment featured a compilation of clips showing Trump supporters, conservative commentators, and politicians, such as House Speaker Mike Johnson, all claiming that America is a Republic.  Contrasting this, the piece features commentary from author and historian Anne Applebaum, who suggests that the right intentionally uses this semantic argument for nefarious purposes.

Applebaum suggested that individuals close to Trump have been intentionally “planting” this narrative.  “You are hearing people say America is not a democracy because there are people around Trump who want them to be saying that, who have been planting that narrative,” she said.

CNN journalist Donie O’Sullivan addressed the rampant criticism of Trump from the left that he represents an attack on America’s supposed democracy.  “So much of the warnings and criticism about Trump is that he is a threat to democracy, that he is anti-democratic,” he said.

In response, Applebaum suggested that asserting that the nation is not a democracy would allow Trump to attack democracy. She went on, “Absolutely, if they can convince people that we don’t have a democracy, then it’s okay that Trump is attacking democracy, because it doesn’t really matter.”

Applebaum notes that the founding fathers had no intention of creating a direct democracy, affirming their desire to promote representative democracy.  However, she maintains that the current semantics behind the language employed by Republicans is indicative of their intention to grant Trump the authority to “do whatever he wants.”  Watch the segment below:

https://x.com/DailyCaller/status/1802684855496376813

Applebaum continued, “These words were used in different ways in the 18th century, and it’s true, the founders didn’t want direct democracy, by which they meant people gathering on the town square. They wanted representative democracy. But I think the reason why this conversation about language has risen now is because there is a part of the Republican Party that would like to rule as a minority, and they need an excuse for why that’s okay. And so they have begun to say we’re not a democracy, we’re a republic. And it’s not 100% clear what that means, but I think they mean we want Donald Trump to be able to do whatever he wants.”

O’Sullivan concludes the segment by stating that the conversation surrounding the semantics of America’s governance is not a debate but an “attack on democracy.” He said, “That this is not actually a debate about government, about democracy.  It’s an attack on democracy. People have heard the warnings that Trump is a danger to democracy. And therefore, you have people trying to convince others that as well. The United States isn’t a democracy in the first place.”

Note:  The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.