Summary
Chuck Todd argues that Donald Trump is rapidly spending his political capital by prioritizing revenge and culture wars over governance.
His controversial cabinet picks, like Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth, signal instability and risk alienating voters who supported him as a rejection of Biden, not an endorsement of Trumpism.
Todd warns that perceived overreach, like aggressive culture war policies or erratic mass deportation plans, could lead to public backlash and erode Trump’s support.
Without delivering stability and results, his presidency could quickly face the same challenges as Biden’s.
Fascism is like fire. It can spread, but ultimately it destroys the things it needs to keep going. Trump will try and use minorities and Democratic leaders as kindling to keep it going as long as possible. A saving grace for the US is that fascists never voluntarily give up power and so Trump’s death will likely result in some reconciliation of how we would like the constitution to actually function. Will there be enough political will to change that? Probably not.