President Joe Biden’s recent statements about Donald Trump have generated an outbreak of heated discussions. Biden has repeatedly condemned Trump as an “existential threat” to the United States. During a fundraising meeting in Boston, Biden blurted out, perhaps thoughtlessly, “If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running.”

The octogenarian Biden should have come up with some better reason for running against his not-so-young but flamboyant adversary. Trump, who is caught up in a web of lawsuits, is not only leaving his Republican rivals in the dustbin, but is also holding a competitive edge over Biden in polls. Nonetheless Biden’s contention is based on a number of factors, including Trump’s attacks on democratic institutions.

Trump has frequently rejected the legitimacy of the 2020 election, despite there being little evidence of widespread fraud. He has also blatantly called for the repeal of the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment, which limits presidents to two terms. Furthermore, Trump has selectively attacked the judiciary and the media, which are critical checks and balances on the executive power.

Trump’s irresponsible rhetoric and inconsistent policies have been widely seen as divisive and detrimental to national unity. He has made incendiary statements about immigrants, Muslims, women, and other groups, and his policies have unduly affected minorities and the poor.

This cacophony has led to increased polarization and political violence. In a speech in New Hampshire, Trump said, “We will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country,” and forewarned that “the real threat is not from the radical right. The real threat is from the radical left, and it’s growing every day.” Writing in Atlantic, David A. Graham said, “What immediately leaps out here is the word vermin, with its echoes of Hitler and Mussolini.

But Trump’s inflammatory language can overshadow and distract from the substance of what he’s saying ~ in this case, appearing to promise a purge or repression of those who disagree with him politically. This sort of language isn’t entirely new. Trump spoke in Manichaean terms throughout his first campaign and term, encouraging chants to lock up Hillary Clinton in 2016, and in 2018 referring to undocumented immigrants as ‘animals’ who would ‘infest our country’. Over time, the shock of Trump’s rhetoric has worn off, making it easy to miss the fact that his message has grown even darker.”

Trump’s attacks on the media and other institutions have diminished the public trust in the government, making it more difficult to function effectively and have led to a decline in civility. Trump’s foreign policy was known for its impulsiveness and inconsistency. He estranged allies, embraced dictators, and made reckless decisions without considering the long-term consequences, which weakened America’s position in the world.

Trump has incessantly violated norms and conventions that have long been considered vital to a functioning democracy. He has attacked his opponents in personal and most offensive terms. He has displayed little respect for the rule of law, and he has unabashedly placed his own interests above those of the country. This erosion of norms and values has enfeebled the fabric of American society and made it increasingly difficult for the country to come together to address common challenges.

If Trump were to win the 2024 election and become president again, it could become disastrous for the country. He would certainly reverse decisions made under the Biden administration, including changes on issues like immigration, climate change, taxes, and healthcare. Trump would try to dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act and its climate provisions or reopen efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Impacts on foreign policy and international relations would be momentous.

Trump’s “America First” approach would challenge allies and traditional alliances. He might sever international agreements and further isolate the US globally if he takes a similar line. A second Trump term could mean continued unpredictability for the US federal government. There are many unknowns and unknowable factors about how Trump might handle issues like the economy, national security, and public health in a second term. The detailed impacts would however depend on factors like the composition of Congress, geopolitical conditions at the time, and what policies Trump chooses to prioritize or reverse from his first term and from the Biden years. Would Trump be vindictive in his second term?

If he were to win again in 2024, he would most likely govern in a vindictive manner rather than have a conciliatory approach. His first term showed strong propensities for attacking opponents and seeking vengeance. This includes his bellicose rhetoric toward the Democrats, threats to withhold aid money from states with Democratic leaders who criticized him, and firing officials like inspectors general who challenged him.

Even today he continues to claim that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him, provoking endless conspiracy theories about voter fraud. If re-elected, he would likely see his win as a chance to prove he had been “right” all along and to discredit his critics from 2020. This angry, belligerent mind-set lends itself to vindictiveness. Trump holds grudges across many segments of politics and society like the media, tech companies, and bureaucrats. His predisposition seems to be to punch back when feeling wronged. As president again, he’d likely keep attacking these who wronged him.

Writing in The Guardian, Peter Stone said, “Trump’s talk of seeking ‘retribution’ against foes, including some he has branded ‘vermin’, has coincided with plans that MAGA (Make America Great Again) loyalists at right-wing think tanks are assembling to expand the president’s power and curb the DoJ, the FBI and other federal agencies. All of it has fuelled critics’ fears that in a second term Trump would govern as an unprecedentedly authoritarian American leader.” Most advisers and officials who controlled his worst compulsive behaviour have left him. Those remaining or potentially new hires would likely be much more sycophantic or partisan, feeding Trump’s sense of victimhood, which could fuel vindictive conduct.

The capacity for conciliation requires a man of character who is capable of seeing others’ perspectives, and controlling one’s ego. These have not been the hallmarks of Trump’s leadership style, making vindictiveness the far more likely result of his second term presidency. The nation would remain bitterly divided. Trump’s past behaviour and current political mind-set suggest that pursuing revenge rather than reconciliation would better satisfy his paranoid psychological needs.

To behave as if he were above the law, a modern-day political untouchable, Trump and his accomplices would try to bring about institutional changes that would change the character of American democracy. Stone argues that MAGA loyalists at right-wing think tanks are planning to “craft a more powerful presidency” by slashing funding for the Department of Justice, dismantling the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, and killing the education and commerce departments. Stone says that these moves are designed to “shrink the ‘administrative state’ and the ‘deep state’ ” that Maga allies see as bloated and politicised. He also notes that one ominous plan Project 2025 has been weighing would allow Trump to invoke the 1871 Insurrection Act on his first day in office, green lighting the use of military force against political foes and demonstrators protesting a new term for Trump.

Biden’s characterisation of Trump as an existential threat is a blunt reminder to the nation about the high stakes in American politics today. As the country negotiates through this turbulent period, the hopes and fears of the people would continue and shape the future.

(The writer is the author of India In A New Key: Nehru to Narendra Modi. Listen to his podcast, Freedom Public Square: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1UtuPkZZ0re jPNz0JxuW9b?si=45b78ac991 c640e)