I am struck by how consequential this election is — not just for the country, but because of what it says about us as individuals. In the past, we’ve had some bitter disagreements about policy, but we’ve never before had an election where good and evil were so clearly on the line.
Don’t blame me for this kind of rhetoric. It’s Donald Trump who’s been claiming that Democrats are “evil.”
But I won’t claim that Trump is evil, only that he does evil things. Over the last several weeks, the former president, who has become increasingly erratic, is now deep into “mad king” territory. I shudder to think how he will behave in four years. He has dropped the mask and no longer even pretends to honor any of our civic norms or even the rule of law. He openly advocates trying former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) before a military tribunal.
He has said the American military should be used to crush “the enemy within.” At first he was apparently referring to those who would take to the streets were he to win, but, based on his cryptic follow-up comments, he might even have been referring to his political opposition — specifically Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
But even that’s not what turns this election into a contest between good and evil. Trump has done two things that are utterly unforgivable.
First, there were his lies about immigrants eating pets in Springfield — lies he repeats to this day, long after everyone from the Republican mayor of Springfield to the Republican governor of Ohio have begged him to stop. Because of those lies, the town suffered over 30 bomb threats, schools were evacuated, and people were afraid to leave their homes for fear of violence.
Trump couldn’t care less about the people of Springfield. He was perfectly happy to sacrifice them to try and score a few political points. He would not hesitate to do the same thing to the rest of America if he thought it served his interests. That is just wrong.
In fact, that’s exactly what he did after Hurricane Helene sowed tragedy across the South, culminating in unprecedented flooding in North Carolina. Trump thought it might boost his chances in Georgia and North Carolina, so he began spreading outright lies about federal disaster relief efforts, including that there were no federal rescue efforts underway and that people who lost their homes would only be entitled to $750 in federal assistance.
Again, governors, mayors and members of Congress begged Trump to stop telling these lies, and he refused. Trump has no remorse about exploiting and terrifying already frightened people suffering through the worst experience of their lives, if it might earn him a handful of votes. There is no other word for this: It is evil. To slightly misquote former President Barack Obama, when did this become okay for you?
That’s a question a lot of people should be asking — especially former President George W. Bush, Sen. Mitt Romney and Trump’s old VP, Mike Pence. Each of them is known to be against Trump’s election. But none of them have actually endorsed Kamala Harris.
Romney gave two reasons for his refusal to endorse. The first is that he’s concerned for his family’s safety. Unfortunately, that’s a valid concern. If you take a public stand against Donald Trump, death threats are part of the package. I’m nobody compared to Romney, and even I have gotten them.
Because of threats from Trump’s supporters, Cassidy Hutchinson — who isn’t a multimillionaire and doesn’t have Romney’s power and influence — had to go into hiding after she testified before Congress about Trump’s actions during the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021. That didn’t stop her from doing the right thing.
Such threats are a species of domestic terrorism. And we know that you don’t give in to terrorists. You spit in their eyes.
Romney also won’t endorse because he wants to “preserve his ability to rebuild the Republican Party in a post-Trump world.” That’s absurd. Romney is not going to be hailed as the leader of the Republican Party because he demonstrated moral cowardice at precisely the right moment. If he’s going to be a leader, it will be because of his integrity, which, in the past, he has displayed in spades.
Bush, Romney and Pence all took an oath to defend the Constitution “from enemies both foreign and domestic.” They have taken that oath seriously, at least until now. That is why their silence is not enough.
This election is on a knife’s edge, and if anything can sway voters, it would be a Republican presidential nominee, a Republican president, and Donald Trump’s own vice president explaining why Trump cannot be allowed to be president again. If they keep silent, they will be complicit in a Trump victory.
Individual voters also have a task. Many conservatives who refuse to vote for Trump plan to write in “George Washington” as their choice for president. But that is not enough. You must put your personal feelings aside and choose what is best for democracy and for America. We ask the men and women of our military to risk their lives to defend America. Is it so much for you to check a box?
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing. If we have a platform, we must speak out. If we are voting, we must square our shoulders, grit our teeth, and cast a vote for Harris. Anything less, and we, too, will be complicit.
Chris Truax is an appellate attorney who served as Southern California chair for John McCain’s primary campaign in 2008.