Atkins pointed out that Trump is indeed using the Justice Department to persecute political opponents, and deploying the military in American cities. Additionally, Atkins observed a compliant MAGA-stacked Supreme Court is standing by while Trump pushes state legislators to gerrymander Congress to favor GOP constituencies. The intensity gap is worse: The number of voters who strongly disapprove of his presidency is double that of those who strongly approve. And as a lame-duck president, Trump is in an extremely weak position to attempt to overrun American democracy because there appears to be no clear successor to take over the MAGA movement when he’s gone. “So, yes, there is reason to fear the worst,” said Atkins, “but … Trump’s power is, in many ways, an illusory projection based on our democracy’s willingness to acquiesce.