Why truth wouldn't matter in a second Trump presidency

In their January/ February 2024 issue - If Trump Wins - the staff of The Atlantic write about the threat a second term poses to American democracy. In this episode, we hear from six of their writers about why truth would cease to matter in another Trump presidency. First, in 'Trump Will Follow Through on his Threats', David A. Graham writes that we’ve become inured to Trump’s rhetoric—but his message has grown more authoritarian. George Packer asks 'Is the Press Ready for a Second Trump Term?'. Republicans and Democrats both need the support of the working class, but neither party is asking the crucial question of what these voters actually want. In a second Trump term, the truth won’t matter, Megan Garber writes. What happens when we can’t agree on a shared reality? Donald Trump’s anti-science stance is bad for both Democrats and Republicans. Sarah Zhang explains how a second term would turn science into a slogan. The former president’s approach to climate change is to ignore it. The environment can’t afford another four years of his denialism, Zoë Schlanger argues. And finally, Donald Trump has promised to impose his preferred historical narrative on school curricula. If re-elected, he could suppress American history, Clint Smith writes.