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You are here: Home / White House / Trump Desperately Wants Democratic Legitimacy

Trump Desperately Wants Democratic Legitimacy

January 29, 2025 at 12:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Benjamin Parker: “It may seem counterintuitive, but part of Trump’s MAGA populism is an excessive regard for the sanctity of elections. It’s why it was so important to deny the legitimate and obvious results of the 2020 election. It’s why Trump insisted he had won the popular vote in 2016, when he clearly didn’t. It’s also why, way back in February 2016, he claimed that Ted Cruz had only won the Iowa Caucus because of fraud.”

“The appearance of democratic legitimacy is important to Trump. The force of his popularity is one of his most effective weapons against institutions that try to constrain him.”

“Now that Trump is president again, he’s using that projection of popularity and his demagogic will to power against the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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