The attempted coup by Trump and his gang of thugs went no better than Hitlers’ failed Beer Hall Putsch. But remember, 10 years after the Nazi’s bungling incompetent first coup attempt the Nazis took power.
Trump has failed to destroy American Democracy and establish a Fascist state. But he has fundamentally transformed the political landscape in ways that could be fatal to the American republic if what he has built is not smashed into oblivion by all the levers the state can bring to bear. Trump has brought Nativist Racist Fascism into the mainstream and succeeded in making it the dominant political force in one of the 2 parties in our 2 party system.
Trump has also established a massive paramilitary force that is better armed and just as violent as Hitler's SA (Sturmabteilung - the Nazi brownshirts). Thanks to the political wing of Trumpism these thugs can openly and legally bear arms in many statehouses and public institutions. The Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, KKK, and various neo-Nazi and Qannon groups have been engaging in violence and terror with impunity. We saw at the Capitol coup attempt that they have allies, members, and sympathizers among law enforcement and the military.
Pretty much the entire leadership of Trump’s brownshirts participated in the riots at the Capitol building. This provides the Justice Department with the opportunity to break the back of the movement by prosecuting and jailing all its leaders and core followers for decades, bankrupting them with massive legal fees, and terrorizing them and their hangers-on and enablers to the point of paralysis. If not they will build on the base Trump created and pose an ever-larger threat to the Republic and the safety of elected officials.
Republican Senators and Congresspeople voted for sedition because they are hoping to lead the movement Trump created. Among them are plenty of wannabe demagogues who would be happy to step into Trump’s shoes should Trump go down. This coup failed, but if those who we elected don’t treat this as the deadliest threat our Democracy has ever faced — then the next coup will succeed. Those who don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it.
Justice should make sure that these thugs and their enablers are too busy with legal threats to their freedom and security to worry about building a movement that will destroy our freedom and security.