Law Becomes Enforcement
2025 — Pam Bondi — Television interview
“We will come after you and we will prosecute you. We will find you.”¹⁴
Fear and Fiction Become Political Strategy
2024 — J.D. Vance — Social media post
“Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”¹⁵
2024 — J.D. Vance — Television interview
“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention… then that’s what I’m going to do.”¹⁶
Inside the Party, Voices Speak — Then Go Silent
2015 — Lindsey Graham — CNN interview
“He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.”¹⁸
2016 — Lindsey Graham — Public statement
“If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed… and we will deserve it.”¹⁹
2020 — James Mattis — Public statement
“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try.”²⁰
2023 — John Kelly — Interview
“He certainly falls into the general definition of fascist.”²¹
2021 — Liz Cheney — Congressional speech
“The President summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.”²²
2016 — Mitt Romney — Speech
“Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud… His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University.”²³
The Military Establishment Restates Its Oath
2020 — Mark Milley — Congressional testimony
“We do not take an oath to a king or a queen,