When Donald Trump launched his first presidential campaign in 2015, many people — including this writer — viewed it as some kind of joke. Would Americans really elect a crass reality tv star who boasted about his business genius and dismissed Mexicans as “criminals, rapists and thugs” to the nation’s highest office? Would they overlook the character flaws of a man who stiffed contractors, underwent several bankruptcies and created a fake foundation and a fake charity? Would they give a pass to a man who bragged that he could “grab a woman by the p___y?” The answer, sadly, was yes. Sort of. The majority of Americans voted for Hillary Clinton, but the antiquated electoral college system put Trump into the White House.

How could that have happened? Apparently, some people liked the idea of having someone “different” as president, someone who wasn’t a politician, someone who would “tell it like it is.” White evangelical Christians were swayed by Trump’s promise to appoint conservative (i.e. anti-abortion, anti-same sex marriage) justices to the Supreme Court. And millions of Americans couldn’t abide the idea of a woman as President, especially after eight years with an African-American president. Enough was enough already, never mind that Trump was a man of bad character and no ethics.

While many people were surprised and shocked that Trump got elected, most African-Americans weren’t surprised at all. They knew that Trump had tapped into the underlying racism found in large segments of the American population. I maintain that racism remains a large part of Trump’s appeal, especially for rural white voters.

So how did Trump fare as president? His tangible “accomplishments,” in my view, were limited to cutting taxes for the wealthy and reducing regulations on business. He tarnished America’s standing among our allies and, in truth, all democratic nations. Trump supporters might argue that Trump appointed “good’ judges, good from their viewpoint. They might say he got a vaccine created and produced in record time, a fair point. On the other hand, his actual leadership under the pandemic was disastrous. And he was a totally polarizing figure. In his eyes, you were either with him or you were a loser.

And then came the Big Lie and Trump’s constant efforts to pressure state and local officials to break the law to try to overturn the elections. He tried to get the Justice Department to ignore the law and flout the Constitution and do what he bade them to do. (Trump said at one point, “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the GOP Congressmen.”) Fortunately, they refused to do so; the wall held. And then came the January 6 insurrection. Americans looked on in horror as some of their fellow Americans broke into the Capitol carrying Trump banners, American flags and even Confederate flags. They screamed “Hang Mike Pence” for his unwillingness to overturn the election after Trump told him to. Several people died and hundreds were injured as a result of this organized hit against our democracy, a hit spurred on by President Trump.

Let that sink in. Trump had no problem putting his Vice President’s fate in the hands of an enraged mob. No problem at all. He never checked on the safety of Pence during the insurrection. And they haven’t spoken since.

Trump, no surprise, has continued spouting the Big Lie, and his supporters cheer him on. Well over 100 Republican nominees for national and statewide office explicitly endorse Trump’s fantasy that the election was stolen. Trump cult members remain mesmerized by their Leader. They claim that the insurrection committee is doing a political hit job, even though leading Republicans — repeat Republicans — have testified under oath that Trump knew that the election wasn’t stolen from him. Former Attorney General Bill Barr claims that Trump has lost touch with reality. A leading Republican jurist warned that our democracy is in clear and present danger.

According to a recent poll, nearly 60% of Americans believe that Trump should be charged for his role in instigating the January 6 insurrection. That’s the good news; the bad news is that the figure isn’t 100 percent. Apparently, Trump can fool some of the people all of the time. He can certainly cow the majority of Republican Senators who still refuse to stand up and declare, “Trump must go!” What a contrast to Watergate, a minor event compared with the insurrection, when Republican senators had the courage to tell Nixon that he had to resign or he would be impeached and removed from office.

Let’s face facts: If we don’t expunge Trump — and his like-minded anarchists — from the American political scene we will not survive as a democracy.

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns. dtreadw575@aol.com