How America democracy was (almost) broken in 2020.
This is the astonishing story of how, for the first time in history, a U.S. President turned his back on democracy and refused to accept the outcome of a general election. In the wake of his 2020 defeat at the polls, Donald Trump recruited a band of odd-ball fanatics, fantasists and profiteers to convince the American people that the election had been stolen and to find a way to subvert the United States Constitution. Standing in the way of this conspiracy were a handful of Republican officials – many of whom voted for Trump - who put the Constitution first and paid a heavy price for doing the right thing.
This alarmingly topical documentary reveals how Donald Trump’s conspiracy to subvert the United States constitution took shape, why it led to the violence of January 6th and how ultimately it was defeated. The story is told from the inside: our cast consists entirely of former allies and supporters of the President, from the Vice President’s office down.
The “Steal” was defeated, but the lie created a permanent fissure in an already polarised nation.
This time Trump is better organised and already he is claiming - again - that if he loses, then the election will have been rigged.
As the 2024 election looms, the world must prepare for a renewed, more potent assault on American democracy from a well-drilled authoritarian network armed with four years’ preparation.
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NPR - Stopping the Steal documents the efforts to help Trump
NPR - The Republicans who stood up to Trump after the 2020 election
"What makes Dan Reed’s documentary worth catching is not the story, it’s the people telling it. There’s not a single Democratic Party member or supporter in sight. Most of the people Reed interviews are either Republican politicians or former members of Trump’s White House staff. The biggest beast of the lot is William Barr, attorney general under Trump."
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"We’ve lived through this story, so “Stopping the Steal” isn’t a cautionary tale. But it is a powerful reminder of what we should prepare for."
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