Judging from the polls, Trump is remarkably unpopular with the voting public. This shouldn’t be surprising, since he seems to be interested in serving two minority constituencies:  MAGA adherents and the ultra rich. The first gives him power in primary elections, and the second flatters and enriches him.

Take MAGA. When Trump declares that the video calling upon members of the military to adhere to their oaths is “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!,” who but MAGA takes such a statement at face value?

His second constituency is arguably the one that is the greatest threat to our democracy. The root of Americans’ discontent is not immigrants or “wokeness,” it’s the understanding that their participation in the American economy is not fairly reflected in their standard of living. When their favored news outlets are not talking about Trump’s corrupt self-dealing and the outrageous concentration of wealth among the super- and ultra-rich, but instead are hammering culture-war issues, MAGA are distracted from the actual sources of their discontent.

But all this runs deeper than Trump and MAGA. For decades, the GOP and their allies have understood that their policies are unpopular. That’s why they have targeted the electoral system to give them control of legislature around the country (as Wisconsinites, for example, are keenly aware) and of course, the House of Representatives. Voter ID and gerrymandering are just two of the tactics they’ve used.

These attacks are continuing and morphing into more subtle and sophisticated attacks on Americans’ right to vote. This is new in our lifetimes, but not in American history.