Social media allows a political leader to direct the behavior of political movements, including engaging in violence and insurrection.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump returns to his plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Aug. 3 after pleading not guilty to charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The 2024 U.S. presidential election should be about more than Donald Trump’s legal travails. It should be a choice between democracy and the further criminalization of American politics.
Former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally on July 29 in Erie, Pa., a few days before he was indicted on charges he worked to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
American history can partly explain why some Americans have come to believe only Donald Trump has their interests at heart, and will vote for him — and fight for him — despite his indictments.
As footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is displayed in the background, former president Donald Trump stands while a song, Justice for All, is played during a campaign rally in Waco, Texas, in March 2023.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Donald Trump’s legal woes will nourish and strengthen his rhetorical style, and his followers will continue to be persuaded by how he makes them feel, not by reason, facts or critical thought.
Donald Trump, left, may yet face off again in federal court against Jack Smith.
Associated Press
Before there was Jack Smith, there was the House January 6 committee. Its work and findings may provide a hint about what new charges Smith might lodge against former President Donald Trump.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump gives thumbs up as he watches during the first round of the LIV Golf Tournament at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
It will take a lot of strategic ingenuity to fight the rise of populism. And it will get harder to do so as politicians rig the game with rules designed to reduce voting.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses a cheering crowd in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 27, 1965.
Bettmann/Getty Images
Hajar Yazdiha, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Conservatives have a long history of contorting the words of Martin Luther King Jr. to further political goals at odds with King’s vision of a colorblind society.
Supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro clash with security forces.
Joedson Alves/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The sacking of key democratic institutions in Brasilia has parallels with the Jan. 6 assault on the US Capitol but was different in one key way: the position of the military.
Donald Trump supporters take over the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
The events of Jan. 6, 2021, have been called an insurrection. The same word has often been used to describe the mostly forgotten rebellions against plantation owners by enslaved people.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, is chairman of the House select committee investigating the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The US select congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol has wrapped up its nearly two-year probe of that day’s violent but unsuccessful insurrection.
Looming large over proceedings.
Jim Lo Scalzo-Pool/Getty Images
A House panel made four criminal referrals in relation to Donald Trump’s alleged role in the attack on the Capitol. Convictions might make him an unpalatable candidate but wouldn’t bar him from running.
Former US President Donald Trump speaks in Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov.15, 2022.
Photo by Alon Skuy/AFP via Getty Images.
Sara Kamali, University of California, Santa Barbara
President Biden denounces white nationalism as once-democratic countries around the world are threatened by increasing political support for this ideology.
Shirts for sale on Jan. 6, 2021, combined loyalty to Jesus and to Donald Trump.
Joyce Dalsheim
Thousands gathered to express their collective identity and desire to preserve the nation’s political and religious heritage – and to uphold what they saw as the rightful outcome of the 2020 election.
Violent protesters, loyal to then-President Donald Trump, storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
(AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Tim Bakken, United States Military Academy West Point
With the exception of a few states, dereliction of a duty is mostly used in military law and does not apply to citizens, including US presidents.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has promised to hold accountable all those involved with the Jan. 6 assault on U.S. Capitol.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump is facing mounting criminal evidence against him and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Trump is also seeing GOP voters turning elsewhere.
In this photograph, former President Donald Trump appears on a video screen above members of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Sara Kamali, University of California, Santa Barbara
A former Oath Keepers member testified during a congressional hearing that it was time to stop mincing words about the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol: ‘It was an armed revolution.’
Eric Greitens poses with a high-powered rifle and commandos in a political ad.
Eric Greitens
GOP political ads are becoming more extreme in their use of weapons to demonstrate armed resistance against those opposed to their militant views – including other Republicans.
Vice President Mike Pence returned to the House chamber to finish the process of counting the electoral votes in the early morning of Jan. 7, 2021.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
The vice president has said he looks forward to meeting the framers of the Constitution in heaven. That is not the mindset of someone with short-term vision.