Prepare for the left to raise hell after a Trump victory — but that's all

As Kamala Harris continues to embarrass herself in each new interview, especially her recent one with Bret Baier on Fox News, it’s time to seriously consider the possibility that Donald Trump could win this presidential election.

At any other time in history, this might be a reason to celebrate, make peace with political opponents, and look forward to better days. Unfortunately, the stakes in this election, along with the intense hostility, give conservatives good reason to fear what could happen if Trump wins. As the old Chinese curse goes, “May you get what you wish for.”

A Harris loss would show that most Americans finally understand the status quo no longer serves them and that reform is urgent.

Commenting on Harris’ repeated claims that Trump poses an existential threat and will round up and imprison American citizens, John Daniel Davidson, a senior editor at the Federalist, argued that the primary goal of this rhetoric is to prepare Democrat voters for violent resistance if Trump wins in November. If it also scares more people into voting for her or motivates a few would-be assassins to target Trump, that’s just a bonus. But the real aim is to incite riots across the country, like those in the summer of 2020 — only worse.

Taking a slightly more optimistic view, political commentator Mark Halperin predicts that America could experience “the greatest mental health crisis in the history of the country.” According to Halperin, leftist propaganda has become so strong and pervasive that a Trump victory would completely shatter many people’s reality: “I think tens of millions of people will question their connection to the nation, their connection to other human beings, and their vision of what their future, and their children’s future, could be.”

But a Trump victory may not trigger a national crisis. While both Davidson and Halperin correctly assess the damage leftist gaslighting has done to the mental and emotional state of many Americans, cataclysmic mass tantrums likely won’t follow. Some influencers and pundits will express outrage, but widespread violence in the streets seems unlikely.

Instead, a Trump victory would highlight what many are beginning to notice: Today’s leftism is spent and in decline.

Despite its traditional claim of championing the “rights of the people,” leftism no longer functions as a populist movement. In reality, it has become a collective effort by elites to maintain their power by preserving a system that keeps them rich and in control. Leftism now entails opposing free speech, opening the border, undermining and dismantling cultural institutions, overturning the constitutional order, and pouring vast amounts of money into ineffective programs.

This shift explains why so many union workers, black men, Latinos, and tech bros — once key constituents in the Democratic coalition — are drifting away. Behind the talk of diversity, social justice, and equity lies an agenda that will leave them poorer, less free, less safe, and ultimately less influential. Even if some still vote for Harris out of habit, they are not going to burn the country down or wage civil war against Trump supporters if she loses. Nor will they scream helplessly at the sky. They have no reason to do so.

As Margaret Thatcher once said, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” The current system of endless borrowing, taxing, and printing money to fund corrupt regimes, bloated government departments, massive corporate contracts, and entitlements for millions of illegal immigrants is unsustainable. This is why crime is rising, infrastructure is crumbling, and the federal government lacks funds to help victims of devastating hurricanes.

This unsustainability explains why Harris cannot articulate a coherent agenda. It’s not just that she’s incompetent and radical but also that she lacks the resources to deliver on any new promises. Everyone knows a Harris administration would lead to higher taxes, mass amnesty, a crackdown on free speech, more inflation, and the creation of a police state to crush dissent. She has no other options.

A Harris loss in November would make this reality clear. It would show that most Americans finally understand the status quo no longer serves them and that reform is urgent. A small minority of elites and their paid agitators might try to raise hell, but their efforts would be futile.

Look at Argentina after the flamboyant libertarian Javier Milei won the presidential election last year. The fact that he won and delivered on his promises reveals how little influence leftists actually have. Milei took a country deeply in debt, plagued by extreme inflation, and burdened with a bloated government — much like the United States — and, according to writer Joseph Addington, “arrested a catastrophic inflationary spiral, drastically slashed government spending to produce a budgetary surplus for the first time in decades, and completely restructured the Argentine economy and government.”

The same could happen here. Most Americans are well past the point of fussing over Trump’s tweets, his character flaws, or his involvement in the January 6 protests. They know he is not a fascist because he already served one term as president and did a much better job than the administration trying to stay in power. And in their heart of hearts, even most leftists probably know this and will feel inwardly relieved at Trump’s return — even as they make a show of shedding some crocodile tears in November for the sake of form.