It wasn't a team of supervillains. Democracy was pushed to the brink by hundreds of ordinary people.
 | By Laura Reston Senior Staff Editor, Opinion |
Most of the stories about Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election focus on a few central characters, breaking down what they did and why they did it. But today, Times Opinion is publishing something more holistic: a graphic that maps out the at times mind-boggling array of masterminds and bit players who made this coup attempt possible, as well as the officials who stood in their way. |
Some of these names will be familiar — Rudy Giuliani, for instance, has been a fixture in Trumpworld for years. But many of the people involved in these plans are less well known: conservative media stars and state lawmakers, a bail bondsman, even a former publicist for the rapper Ye. |
The list includes more than 1,200 people, collected and organized by Norman Eisen, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who has been studying Trump's efforts in Georgia. It spans everyone from Trump's inner circle, to the attorneys he relied on for legal advice, to the foot soldiers who took part in the Capitol riot and fake electors who put the plans into motion to undermine our democracy. |
Taken together, a picture begins to emerge of just how wide-ranging that effort was — and how close it came to succeeding. If only a few people had caved to the pressure they faced from Trump's allies, our political landscape could have looked very different today. |
"Democracy is resilient, but it requires vigilance and tending," writes Michelle Cottle, a member of the editorial board, in her postscript to the project. "Ours was brought to the edge of disaster not by a cadre of supervillains, but by hundreds of ordinary people who, for a jumble of reasons, chose to do the bidding of an aspiring autocrat — a man who would be king rather than president." |
Explore the map, and you'll be startled to see just how many of these figures are still in positions of power. Those who remain loyal to Trump may well be the people he surrounds himself with if elected to a second term. And even if he loses, many of them could remain a part of our national fabric for years to come. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
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