In order to subvert our Democracy he has to do two things.
One, he has to get reelected or be ready to stage a coup during the election process.
Two, he has to have ground support — enough of the population have to want it so they don’t resist.
On the first point, as long as he retains enough public support among Republicans he will win by the electoral college despite losing by a landslide in the popular election. In the end, the popular vote does not matter a twit. It is the electoral college who decides the presidency. Obviously, it’s a little more complicated than that, but broad strokes … no where near enough Republicans have abandoned him in the past 3+years despite his constant hammering away at democratic norms and his lawless, corrupt, unconstitutional behavior. Not only have they turned a willful blind eye, they have actively colluded. Trump is not the only one commiting treason against the Constitution and against the American people. Also, he has already set the stage to interrupt the election process through the courts and through the post office. Having been caught hasn’t gotten DeJoy out if position or undone any of the changes he’s made. Stone is in the news today talking up federally stealing ballots from Nevada so the state can’t count them, preemptively filing lawsuits, etc.
Which brings us to point two. Despite everything he has done, he still has an avid base who will not abandon him no matter what. He was not kidding, nor was he wrong when he said he could shoot someone dead in the street and get away with it. His supporters in Congress, in the administration, and in the Republican party will prevent him from being brought to account by any legal means. They already have. He has stoked racial, gender, and political tensions with glee and now that unrest has broken out in the streets he has a case for “law and order”. People will become fearful and demand that protests be quelled whatever the cost. We’ve seen this before, too, with the passage of the Patriot Act. The people overwhelmingly supported it due to fear and rage. Anyone who spoke out about the dangers was called a traitor and the public harassment was severe in many cases. There is already a rising backlash against BLM. It will get worse.
This brings us back around to the strategy of his actions or inactions, depending on your point of view. If he acted with a definitive purpose toward stopping or slowing down the pandemic he would have to actually succeed to get any political capital. He would not have gained many Dems because regardless, they’re too angry over everything else to support him. He may have lost some Reps, but not many. He gains nothing by acting.
Since the virus was in Democratic cities and states first, he could gain political advantage by the loss of Democratic voters; fewer people to vote against him. The financial cost also advantages him. He stoked this point amongst his base as well. It’s pretty telling that he didn’t start taking it seriously until it started affecting “our people”. This was public as well.
At this point, to prevent a unification of the right and the left on this issue, he stoked tensions around quarantine and mask and social distancing mandates all the while making the appearance of doing his job.
He’s actively stoked tensions during the protests over police brutality. In truth, I have to wonder if he would have instigated food and housing riots in hopes of getting people to back a “law and order” takeover were it not for the BLM protests. Frankly, it’s still a possibility.
That’s strategy.
Don’t forget who his mentors are/were. There are playbooks to manipulate the masses as well as individuals and also to undermine a democracy enough to stage a coup. One does not have to be a great thinker to follow a well established playbook. One needs only to lack the character qualities and moral compass that would lead one to conclude that it’s a bad idea.
There is more coming. If you’re familiar with the playbooks, you know what’s next. One can employ strategy successfully without it actually being their strategy.
