“No one can leave. We have to stay in the fight, each one of us.”
That's what Vice President Kamala Harris told a gathering of young leaders in Maryland this week as the Biden administration enters its final month.
The general public would do well to heed this message because President-elect Donald Trump is not waiting until his inauguration to begin a campaign of revenge against his perceived enemies and any organization that tries to hold him accountable.
However, instead of standing up against Trump's flood of threats and promises of retaliation, many of us are rolling out the welcome mat.
On the same day that Harris made those comments, Trump's allies in the House of Representatives asked the FBI to investigate former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney over her role in the January 6 Select Committee investigation. A few days earlier, Trump told NBC News' Kristen Welker that Cheney, a Democratic representative Bennie Thompson and other committee members should be arrested for their work.
Trump also filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Register for election interference after the paper published a survey showing Harris beating him in the Hawkeye State.
As all this is happening, Trump is putting together a cabinet of potential loyalists like FBI director Kash Patel, who has promised to go after the media and Trump critics inside and outside the federal government. The clear message is that Trump will use the power given to him as president to attack those he sees as his enemies. You could call it revenge, unless his victims did something wrong.
To make matters worse, those who have the most power to stop Trump's worst wishes are putting down the erosion of our most sacred institutions.
FBI Director Christopher Wray recently announced that he will resign before Trump — who you may remember appointed him to his first post — takes office, even though he has almost three years left in office. Wray chose to step back and make way for Patel rather than dare Trump to fire him.
ABC News recently settled Trump's defamation lawsuit against the network, agreeing to give $15 million to the future president's library as part of the settlement.
The Democratic Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, is accused of working to curry favor with Trump, meeting with border kingpin Tom Homan, who has promised to deport more people with the support of state and municipal officials. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania has agreed to meet with Trump's nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, despite allegations of sexual harassment, which Hegseth denies.
Both men have framed these moves as political wisdom, but that will depend on whether Trump's tactics are normal, rather than dangerous to our democracy. Besides, is it politically prudent to ignore threats of retaliation against the American people?
Because that's what it is, folks. This is much bigger than Trump. It is about maintaining the checks and balances that have allowed this imperfect but determined country to survive even in the most dangerous times.
If the institutions designed to hold our leaders accountable — Congress, journalists, civil servants — choose to falter instead of fight back, it will send a message to all the autocrats waiting to become the next Trump.
Trump won the presidential election but he has not won the battle for the soul of the nation. That is a battle he can only win if we surrender unconditionally.
For more thought-provoking insights from Michael Steele, Alicia Menendez and Symone Sanders-Townsend, watch “The Weekend” every Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. ET on MSNBC.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
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