The reality now is that the fascist section of the ruling class, represented by and concentrated in the Republican Party, is actively and aggressively engaged in a “two-pronged” move to achieve and consolidate fascist rule. These “two prongs” are: corrupting and controlling the electoral process and key government institutions; and the threat and use of violence, including through the mobilization of violent mobs. These fascists are, for now, relying mainly on the first, but with the second (violence) as an “accompaniment” to this—which could become their main means, if that proves necessary for them. 

From Something Terrible Or Something Truly Emancipating: Profound Crisis, Deepening Divisions, The Looming Possibility of Civil War—And The Revoution That Is Urgently Needed, by Bob Avakian, December 2021

With the presidential election a week away, both fascist-Republicans and the war criminal-Democrats are frenetically campaigning for votes. But the fascists are also actively working to “win”—that is, to take power—no matter what.

Undergirding the fascists’ approach to this election are twin lies propagated by Trump. The first is that the 2020 election was “stolen.” Though proven false repeatedly, this has become an article of fanatical religious faith in the MAGA movement. The second is the belief that Trump will win the 2024 election unless it is “stolen” from him “again.” As Trump put it: “Our primary focus is not to get out the vote, it is to make sure they [the Democrats] don’t cheat. We have all the votes we’ll need.” In other words, if Trump doesn’t win, that “proves” the election was “stolen.”

These twin lies are part of the glue that binds together the whole fascist movement,¹ and for fascists, it “justifies” using any means, legal or illegal, peaceful or violent, to make sure that this time Trump will take the power that is “rightfully” his. 

What Bob Avakian says above spells out the “two prongs” they are pursuing. Below are some examples of how they are going at this with each of the “two prongs.”

First “Prong”: “Corrupting and controlling the electoral process and key government institutions”:

• Harassment and threats against election workers and officials. 

A May 2024 report by the Brennan Center for Justice “found that 38 percent of local election officials experienced threats, harassment, or abuse for doing their jobs.” Election workers report being followed, having their children accosted, and feeling they needed to arm themselves just to be safe at work.

On October 25, the New York Times reported on “a torrent of threats,” especially in the crucial “swing states.” These included a threat to “skin alive” a Pennsylvania state official. South Carolina’s director of voter registration reported that “roving groups” have been showing up at voting locations, threatening staff and volunteers with “citizen arrests.” In Phoenix, Arizona, someone set fire to a mailbox, damaging dozens of mail-in ballots. Someone also shot up a Phoenix office of the Democratic National Committee. The man arrested for this was reported to have 120 guns and 250,000 rounds of ammunition stockpiled in his home. 

One result of all this is that more than one in three election workers or officials have quit since 2020. Some have been replaced by hardcore MAGA election deniers. Cleta Mitchell (a close Trump ally) said on her podcast, “We are going to retake our election system one county at a time all over America.” [Emphasis added]

• Plans to delay the process of counting the votes at a local level, and of “certifying” them on the state level. 

Members of at least 20 county boards in eight states have already tried to block certification of local elections, even though courts have consistently ruled that they do not have the legal right to do that. Many of these officials believe that it is their “patriotic” or even god-ordained “duty” to disrupt any election that doesn’t put Trump in power, 

As revcom.us brought out in September, delaying certification past the January 6 deadline would force settlement of the election into the House of Representatives, probably overseen by the fascist-dominated Supreme Court. So even if Trump clearly loses the election, he could be declared “the winner” by these other fascist-controlled parts of the ruling apparatus. 

And if a Trump “victory” was stamped with the approval of these institutions, it is very possible that at least sections of the military would be ready to enforce it.

• Unleashing an army of “poll watchers” to “monitor” the elections.

As we reported in September, the Republican National Committee claims to have signed up 157,000 “poll watchers”—largely from mainly-white suburbs—to “observe” every vote cast and all the ballot counting. “But when they say ‘poll watchers,’ think about how fascists ‘watched the polls’ in 2020. Remember Detroit, where mainly Black election workers ‘hunkered down and kept working as a mob of people … battered on the doors and bellowed at election workers as they were counting ballots.’” And there were similar scenes in Atlanta, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.

Second “Prong”: “The threat and use of violence, including through the mobilization of violent mobs.”

• Firing Up the MAGA base with Nazi-style demonization of immigrants.

This longtime feature of the MAGA movement has taken a giant leap in the last two months. Trump has manufactured and spread stories of a small city in Colorado being “taken over” by Venezuelan street gangs and of Haitian immigrants stealing and eating people’s pets. He has described immigrants as “poisoning” America’s blood and of being “garbage” that is destroying America.

This is part of bolstering the fascist movement as a whole. But specifically in relation to the elections, it is telling the base that if Trump does not take power soon, it’s “all over” for the “true” Americans. It is creating a sense of panic in which large numbers of armed fascists could be brought into the streets to—in one way or another—batter down any obstacles to Trump’s victory.

As we brought out in September, “there are also a number of paramilitary militias—some with close ties to police, sheriffs and local Republican Party organizations—that view the elections as ‘do or die’ and could enter into the mix to help violently impose a fascist regime.” Some claim to have ties with Marine Corps and Special Forces veterans. A video being circulated in these circles discusses the coming “civil war,” advising militias “You’re gonna have to secure your smallest municipality and governing body first, that means townships or cities will have to be conquered immediately through force,” and “Whatever you do, it has to be very violent and very ugly.”

• Trump has proclaimed to his fascist base that “I am your retribution.” 

In that “spirit” he is threatening to use the military as well as the very powerful Department of Justice to go after his opponents.  Among those he has specifically threatened are top Democratic Party leaders and elected officials, major ruling class media like CBS News and the New York Times, and anyone who protests against his rise to power. In this past week, retired top imperialist generals (Mark Milley, former Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and John Kelly, Trump’s former Chief of Staff) have confirmed that Trump is “fascist to the core” and that he admires Adolf Hitler, the German imperialist leader who led the biggest genocide in world history against Jewish people and other minorities.

These threats should be taken utterly seriously, and they are not just a problem for the future. Part of what Trump is doing is warning other ruling class forces that they will pay a very high price if they oppose his taking power. And this seems to be having a real impact. One notable example: the Washington Post—one of two major papers in the U.S., which was widely expected to endorse Harris/Walz—suddenly announced that it would not endorse any candidate, giving no real explanation.

Conclusion

What is laid out above illustrates that the U.S. is already bursting at the seams from the deep conflicts that divide both the ruling class and the masses of people. All hell is already breaking loose, and it’s not even election day yet.

In a very important and more-timely-than-ever article first published in January, Bob Avakian sketched out some of the possible scenarios for this upcoming election. None of them was “millions of people peacefully cast their ballots; all sides calmly await the counting of the votes; and the losing side quietly accepts the outcome.” 

Quite the contrary, however events break, it is likely that immense social turmoil over the direction, nature and future of the U.S. will convulse society, opening up at least the potential for a radically positive change—a real revolution. BA’s article speaks to the challenges this will impose on all those who want to see a decent world fit for human beings (See: “2024 Scenarios (a Sketch) and the Challenges”)

In the circumstances of all-out crisis, when the whole direction of society is being called into question, there would be different trends and organized forces seeking to take things in different directions. …

The people who are won to revolution, in increasingly greater numbers, must be led to have a clear understanding of the need, and be in position, to wage a powerful struggle to determine the whole direction of things in the midst of such an acute crisis, in order to carry things forward toward the only real positive solution: an actual, truly emancipating revolution.

EVERYTHING THAT IS DONE, FROM HERE FORWARD, MUST BE ORIENTED TO CREATING THE BASIS FOR THIS.

This is guidance from the leader of the revolution that needs to be not only grappled with, but acted on, from now forward.