Mostly since WWII, Americans have been programmed (thru schoolbooks, news media publications and TV) to “know” that the USA was created in the 18th century as a “democracy,” when in fact, the founders rejected the idea almost as fast as it was brought to the table. Democracy as a government system was never seriously considered. The founders knew that a system allowing 50.1% of the people to dictate all governing policy to the other 49.9% would be no improvement over that from which they had just escaped. They knew, too, that there had to be a rulebook, and, henceforth, brought into being America’s Constitutional Republic. In the short video below, we can see what appears to be a very sincere but miseducated CNN interviewer on the street, Donie O’Sullivan, learning something new; followed by longtime deceiver and CIA asset since college, Anderson Cooper, attempting to continue the public’s deception.
Supporters of previous President Donald Trump told CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan in a series of live interviews that the United States is “not a democracy” and that if Trump loses, there would be a “civil war.”
Reporting on the edges of the conservative and pro-Trump movements is O’Sullivan’s specialty, and he regularly receives some amazing quotes.
O’Sullivan unveiled his most recent series of what liberal outlets, such as Mediaite, refer to as “jaw-dropping MAGA sound bites” on Thursday night’s CNN Anderson Cooper 360. The group of Trump fans were glad to inform him that we are not a democracy, a sentiment that’s hard to disagree with, especially after the former president was charged with 34 charges by his political adversaries, in an election year, indicative of a banana republic.
The interview, that left Cooper jaw-dropped, went as follows:
COOPER: President Biden is billing his reelection campaign as a fight to preserve democracy. Tonight, how that notion is going down with Trump supporters, as well as one noted author who’s made describing how democracies fail her specialty. More from CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONIE O’SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER (voice over): What happens if Trump loses?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don’t see him losing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don’t think he lost the last election, to be honest.
O’SULLIVAN: Do you think he’s going to win?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Without a doubt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No doubt.
O’SULLIVAN: What if he doesn’t this time? What happens to the country?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We’re done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We’re in trouble. We’re in big trouble.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We’re done. If Biden talks about democracy, you know, saving democracy, they’re the ones that are killing democracy.
O’SULLIVAN: Obviously, there’s a lot of criticisms of Trump that he is bad for democracy, that he’s bad for American democracy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I say something? We are a republic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We’re a republic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not a democracy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We’re a representative of the republic. We’re not a democracy. (END VIDEO CLIP)
O’SULLIVAN (voice over): One thing we’ve been hearing at Trump rallies like this over the past few months is that America isn’t really a democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: America’s not a democracy and is a republic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It’s not a democracy. Okay? Democracy is actually not as good as you think it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O’SULLIVAN (voice over): But for centuries, America has celebrated its democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democracy is worth dying for.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democracy remains the definition of political legitimacy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O’SULLIVAN (voice over): But some Republicans and pro-Trump media are pushing the idea that America is not a democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States of America is not a democracy. We are a constitutional republic.
JOHNSON: The United States of America is not a democracy. You don’t want to be in a democracy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are not a democracy. We are a republic.
O’SULLIVAN (on camera): Is America a democracy?
ANNE APPLEBAUM, AUTHOR, “AUTOCRACY, INC.”: America is a democracy. It was founded as a democracy.
O’SULLIVAN: I’ve heard a lot of conspiracy theories. I hear a lot of things out on the road. But to hear Americans, people who would describe themselves as patriots, say that America is not a democracy, that stopped me in my tracks.
APPLEBAUM: You are hearing people say America is not a democracy because there are people around Trump who want them to be saying that, who’ve been planting that narrative.
O’SULLIVAN: Is America a democracy? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I don’t – I think we’re a republic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, not right now. But we’re – yes, we’re a republic.
O’SULLIVAN: What’s the difference?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like democracy – I think this is true, that it’s government control. I don’t see freedom in democracy. I see freedom in the republic.
APPLEBAUM: Honestly, the word democracy and the word republic have often been used interchangeably. There isn’t a meaningful difference between them.
O’SULLIVAN: So much of the warnings and criticism about Trump is that he is a threat to democracy, that he is anti-Democratic.
APPLEBAUM: Absolutely. If they can convince people that we don’t have a democracy, then it’s okay that Trump is attacking democracy, because it doesn’t really matter.
O’SULLIVAN: So why – like, why has democracy become a bad word?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because it’s being used in a way to change the flavor of our country, which is a republic.
APPLEBAUM: These words were used in different ways in the 18th century and it’s true the founders didn’t want direct democracy, by which they meant people gathering on the town square, they wanted representative democracy.
But I think the reason why this conversation about language has risen now is because there is a part of the Republican Party that would like to rule as a minority, and they need an excuse for why that’s okay. And so they have begun to say, we’re not a democracy, we’re a republic. And it’s not a hundred percent clear what that means, but I think they mean, we want Donald Trump to be able to do whatever he wants.
O’SULLIVAN: Some people I’ve been speaking to at Trump events recently …
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
O’SULLIVAN: … have been saying, America is not a democracy, it’s a republic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We’ve always been a democracy, first of all,
O’SULLIVAN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, we have – we used to have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, we used to have that too, now they’re picking on the Christians and the Jewish people. I mean, how much more can we take?
O’SULLIVAN: Are you concerned if Trump loses …
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
O’SULLIVAN: … that there will be another January 6th?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I think there will be a civil war. That’s what I think will happen.