As the 2020 presidential elections gradually metamorphosed into a contested windstorm with former president Donald J. Trump at the helm of the controversy, one of his key strategies was to prime his supporters to challenge a possible win by vice-president Kamala Harris. This narrative — escalated by Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat, widespread litigation, baseless claims of voter fraud, and, finally, his impeachment and acquittal — seemingly culminated in his declaration: This was a coup.
One of the constant features of the Trump administration was its consistent disregard for political convention and norms. The rejection of electoral defeat began ahead of the elections, with Trump repeatedly exclaiming at his rallies that the only way the Democrats could triumph would be through an illicit manipulation of the electoral process. This was a coup, he would say, inflaming his audience’s partisan sentiments, engendering an environment of polarization, mistrust, and potential conflict.
Indeed, the sentiment of stolen election, a coup against the rightful winners, was aggressively pedaled throughout the election cycle. Trump, in his speeches and statements, illuminated these as legitimate possibilities, painting a daunting image of a system that is inherently flawed and twisted against him. The constant repetition of the phrase: “this was a coup,” served as a powerful mental anchor, not only to paint his opponents in a negative light but also as a sinister prophecy of sorts, one that his followers passionately believed and defended.
With the elections concluded and their aftermath revealing a Democratic win, Trump’s supporters were ready, primed, and conditioned to respond. Calls for recounts and auditing sprouted from various Republican quarters, fueled by Trump’s rhetoric of fraud. His greatest weapon to delegitimize Kamala Harris’s victory was his carefully nurtured and primed support base, who willingly accepted his narrative, and energetically rallied behind him.
At the height of his power, Trump incited a doomed and horrific insurrection on the United States Capitol. A direct, violent attack on the democracy and transition of power, this horrifying episode was incited not by factual evidence, but by the dangerous narrative that this was a coup. An act that shocked many Americans and the world, it was a vivid manifestation of the amount of sway Trump held over his supporters, a consequence of the seeds of discord he had long planted.
The Trump-stirred narrative, therefore, encompassed much more than a mere rallying motto. It served as a weapon, a ready tool in the hands of Trump to rally his supporters, to question the authority and legitimacy of the vice-president and the very democracy that elected her. It became a psychological trigger, which he deftly used to mobilize his supporters into challenging a consequential moment in the course of American democracy.
In this way, the claim of this was a coup, weaponized by the heated rhetoric of an outgoing president, became an instrument of discord, challenging the validity of Kamala Harris’s win. Trump successfully primed his followers to question and challenge a Harris victory, thereby testing the strength and resilience of the American democratic process like never before. In the end, it was not just about a controversial phrase or assertion but about how it was wielded to sustain a corrosive contention against a valid, democratic outcome.
