Opinion: How concerned should we be if Donald Trump is reelected as president?

My daughter joked about her concern for my safety because of my new passion for writing political op-eds and letters to the editor saying, “You are going to get yourself on Trump's naughty list!” We both laughed. But our eyes connected and it was clear we were both, uncomfortably, a bit serious about it too. Wow! Was this really our new political reality? If Trump is reelected, how far will he go to make good on his promise to the MAGA crowd that “I am your retribution?” Trump has made clear over the years that he sees people as either loyalists or enemies. He has worked tirelessly to divide the country, labeling his followers as good and anyone who opposes him as bad. Democrat versus Republican. MAGA versus RINOs. His team versus everyone else.

I am definitely not on his team. Neither are at least 100 million other Americans. Should we be scared? Does the D on my voter registration card mark me as the enemy? I tell myself that I’m clearly paranoid. Yet I’ve been listening, watching and paying attention to Trump and his minions' words and actions. I am convinced that, yes, we should be concerned. When numerous historians and experts on authoritarianism are working overtime to sound the alarm that this is a dangerous time, we should listen.

A would-be authoritarian is the near certain Republican presidential nominee this year. Many people write him off as simply full of bluster, unintelligent or incapable of doing the things he threatens. Some say that his first term was chaotic but that the guardrails held. A significant percentage of Americans tune out politics and are mostly unaware of any threat. Unfortunately, there are many people fully onboard the Trump tyranny train. I hope there are enough people like me willing to stand up and push back against this dangerous MAGA movement.

A second Trump term would be wildly different from the first. In his first term, he really didn’t know what he was doing and many of the principled people he surrounded himself with reigned him in and steered him away from his worst impulses. That will not be the case if he returns to office. He will only appoint true loyalists. Read about Project 2025 to see how his team is already screening tens of thousands of people for partisan ideological tilt and loyalty to Trump. These people will replace long-time non-partisan government workers and would likely green light what could be questionable directives. Trump has consolidated power in the Republican caucus in Congress by pushing out detractors and using threats and intimidation to keep the rest in line. He owns them now. He would certainly remake the Department of Justice in order to weaponize them against his enemies. In a second term he will be unrestrained and have access to far more power than before.

So who would stop him from his drive for revenge and retribution? Are the courts still strong enough? How will law enforcement or the military respond to unlawful or controversial orders? If, as he promises, he rounds up undocumented migrants by the millions and gets away with it, who will he decide to round up next? Am I being paranoid again? I don’t know.

Hopefully, an only semi-prolific local opinion writer like myself will not be a target for Trump, but what about the people at The New York Times, MSNBC, The Atlantic and The Lincoln Project? I would worry if I was Mark Milley, Bill Barr, Cassidy Hutchinson, Brad Raffensperger, Nikki Haley, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney or the hundreds of other high profile officials who have opposed Trump. And don’t forget the prosecutors, witnesses and judges tasked with enforcing the law he thinks he is above.

I’ve been around long enough to be shocked, appalled and worried about all the dangerous potential consequences of a second Trump term. But the retaliation aspect is especially troubling in the wake of Alexei Navalny’s murder by Trump’s friend Putin. Trump has not condemned the murder, which is no surprise, as you would be hard pressed to find a single negative comment he has made about Putin over the years. He clearly admires Putin's ability to get away with murder and wishes he had that same power.

So, would Trump exact revenge? Absolutely. Will he brazenly have people killed? Unlikely. One thing is certain. We can never give him and his acolytes the power to find out for sure.

Citizen Times Editor: Open call for women to share their voices, during Women's History Month and always

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Debbie Resnick is an Independent Agent with Impact Launchpad, a group focused on projects that support the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and dedicated to “making great ideas happen.” She is a politically active concerned citizen, parent and volunteer.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Opinion: If Trump is elected he will appoint loyalists, seek revenge