Donald Trump’s decision to send storm-troopers into Portland is only surprising if you haven’t been paying attention. It is only a shock if you have willfully looked past the three and a half year long assault on American democracy that the Trump administration has been. And it is only a standalone act that will not be tolerated by our courts or federalist system if you have barricaded yourself into a Pollyannaish fantasy world. A more grounded view of what is occurring in Portland and elsewhere is that with the election three and a half months away Donald Trump has telegraphed that he will use violence, security services personally loyal to him and a very dubious grasp on the Constitutional limits on his office to do whatever is necessary to intimidate his opposition and remain in office.

In Portland, security forces, under the command of the Department of Homeland Security DHS have arrested people without giving any explanations, beaten peaceful demonstrators and otherwise sought to violently disperse demonstrationss. Acting head of DHS Chad Wolf has indicated he will continue doing this regardless of what local officials say and that he is also proactively arresting people. When the government proactively arrests people in other countries, we call that disappearing them or worse. That is what paranoid authoritarian regimes do-and that is precisely what Donald Trump’s presidency has become. Trump and his enablers and cult members have justified these actions by asserting that demonstrators in Portland are violent and causing massive property damage. The reality is the demonstrators have made a lot of graffiti and, admittedly committed a few cases of low level property damage

In recent days, Donald Trump has said he will ask security forces to go to other American cities and do similar things. When asked why, Trump’s answer boiled down to his dislike for cities that vote Democratic, his concern over a mild uptick in crime and a fascistic word salad about that had something to do with violence. Fear mongering about the danger posed by out of control cities, which always a deep and implicit racism, has now taken center stage in Trump’s teetering reelection campaign.

Indeed, it is Trump’s bid for reelection, more accurately his need to remain in office, that is the motivator for almost everything he does. It is more apparent than ever that if he leaves office, Trump will likely face criminal prosecution and legal hassles for the rest of his life. By sending troops to Portland and threatening to do the same in other cities, Trump is sending a clear message, that he is playing hardball and will not hesitate to behave similarly if, for example, peaceful demonstrators seek to challenge Trump’s rejection of the election if he loses.

The ability to instill fear is the greatest asset that a despot has. However, throughout his presidency a combination of Trump’s sheer incompetence, clownish affect and penchant for bold words with no follow up have left few Americans afraid of him. Sending troops who arrest and beat innocent people may change that. If Trump can create that climate of fear, it will be a lot more difficult to mobilize the American people after the election and a lot easier for Trump to get away with rejecting the outcome-or in more plain English stealing the election. The first steps to overcoming that fear that Trump is trying to instill is to recognize the nature of the threat, but also the reality that Donald Trump is a weak and unpopular president whose supporters represent a minority of the American people.

This is the environment in which the 2020 election will occur-one where an embattled and politically damaged president will do anything to stay in power, up to and including having demonstrators disappeared. It is, therefore, essential for the future of American democracy that Joe Biden beat Trump in November. However, the notion that this will, or indeed can, end in a peaceful transition is also becoming a dangerous fantasy. It also lulls us into complacency to think that ending America’s dalliance with authoritarianism will be as easy as electing a new president.

It is no longer an exaggeration or overstatement to see Trump’s presidency and almost the entire Republican Party as authoritarian. In fact, it is negligent to do otherwise. Those of us calling what is occurring on the streets of Portland, and any day now in other cities, fascistic are now stating something that should be obvious. Those calling for calm and less heated terms are unwittingly making it easier for Trump by giving cover to his assault on democracy. To overcome the fear Trump, his storm-troopers, cult members and partisan enablers are creating we must first recognize the threat and then stand up to it now and after the election.

Lincoln Mitchell