Basic

In the marathon that is the U.S. presidential election, we are, if not exactly on the home straight, at least into the back half of the race; the finish line approaching, albeit slowly. But what happens after? A smooth democratic handover isn’t certain. As the introductory sentence of today’s story by political scientist Alexander Cohen asks: “Should Americans be bracing for bloodshed if Donald Trump loses the 2024 presidential election?”

The answer, worryingly enough, is “potentially.” Polls show that around a quarter of all Americans and 33% of Republicans agree that “patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.” Meanwhile a third of Americans believe the last election was “stolen” from Trump. With those statistics in mind, Cohen suggests that “given the perceived stakes of the election for most Americans, along with Trump’s ever-sharpening incendiary rhetoric,” the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol may not be an isolated outburst of political violence. “Indeed, it may have been just a prelude,” he adds.

And that is no laughing matter. Neither is the repeated attack by Trump and fellow MAGA Republicans on Kamala Harris’ chortle. Rather, it taps into a deep racist past of suppressing Black laughter, including through the use of “laughing barrels” into which Black Americans were expected to duck their heads to conceal mirth deemed subversive or offensive by white Southerners.

Elsewhere this week, we continue to watch the escalating violence on the Lebanese-Israeli border and offer a warning from history over the dangers of a ground invasion. We also highlight a new approach to alleviating Africa’s debt burdens.