How Trump Rescued American Democracy from the Brink Under Biden

The New York Times editorial board's recent piece, "Are We Losing Our Democracy?" (published October 31, 2025), presents a grim portrait of the United States under President Trump's second term, claiming the country has regressed across 12 markers of democratic erosion. Drawing on scholarly frameworks, the board argues that Trump's actions— from stifling dissent to personal enrichment—signal a slide toward autocracy. This narrative, however, inverts reality. Far from eroding democracy, Trump's administration has actively restored it by dismantling the institutional overreach, media capture, and state-backed suppression that defined the Biden era (2021–2025). During those years, the federal government, in concert with aligned institutions, consolidated power in ways that more closely mirrored autocratic patterns: censoring opposition, weaponizing law enforcement against dissenters, and shielding elite corruption. Trump's interventions have exposed and reversed these trends, pulling the nation back from a dangerous precipice.

To illustrate, let us systematically address the Times' 12 markers, reframing each with evidence from the Biden years to show how autocratic tendencies were already entrenched—and how Trump has begun to dismantle them. This is not to claim perfection under Trump, but to highlight the corrective force his leadership has exerted, substantiated by documented events and patterns.

1. Stifling Dissent and Speech

The Times alleges Trump has pressured media outlets and targeted critics, evoking the Red Scare. Yet the Biden administration's suppression of speech was far more systemic. Federal agencies, including the FBI and DHS, collaborated with social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) to flag and remove content questioning COVID-19 policies, election integrity, or climate narratives—a partnership exposed in the 2023 Twitter Files and confirmed by Missouri v. Biden (2023 Supreme Court case, which affirmed government coercion of platforms). Doctors like Robert Malone and Pierre Kory, who challenged Dr. Anthony Fauci's mandates on masks and vaccines, were deplatformed, their videos suppressed, and their professional licenses threatened. Under Trump, such censorship has waned; platforms now face antitrust scrutiny, and free speech lawsuits (e.g., against legacy media for Russiagate fabrications) have proliferated, revitalizing open discourse.

2. Persecuting Political Opponents

The editorial points to Trump's Justice Department targeting figures like Letitia James and James Comey. In contrast, Biden's DOJ pursued unprecedented prosecutions of Trump supporters post-January 6, 2021—over 1,200 arrests, many for non-violent offenses like trespassing, often without due process, as detailed in House Judiciary Committee reports (2023). The "state-manufactured" Russiagate hoax, initiated under Obama and amplified by Biden's campaign, falsely portrayed Trump as a Russian asset based on the discredited Steele Dossier (later debunked by the Durham Report, 2023). Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton's role in funding that dossier went unprosecuted, with the FBI shielding her despite evidence of campaign finance violations. Trump's pardons for January 6 participants and declassification of Russiagate documents have begun to level the field, exposing prosecutorial abuse and restoring impartiality.

3. Bypassing the Legislature

Trump is accused of withholding congressionally authorized funds and imposing tariffs unilaterally. Under Biden, executive overreach was rampant: the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (2021) bypassed traditional appropriations processes via reconciliation, while student loan forgiveness attempts ($400 billion, struck down by the Supreme Court in 2023) defied statutory limits. Biden's eviction moratorium (2021) ignored court orders, and climate regulations via the EPA evaded congressional input. Trump's tariffs, while bold, align with Article II trade powers and have been upheld; more importantly, his administration has vetoed omnibus spending bills, forcing Congress to reclaim its "power of the purse," countering the Biden-era trend of executive fiat.

4. Using the Military for Domestic Control

The Times highlights Trump's National Guard deployments in Los Angeles and Portland. Biden's invocation of military assets was subtler but insidious: the Pentagon's 2021 "misinformation" task force monitored domestic "extremists," including Trump voters labeled as threats in post-January 6 guidance (leaked DoD memos, 2022). This echoed the Obama-era expansion of domestic surveillance under the PATRIOT Act. Trump's deployments were reactive to riots that injured thousands and cost billions (2020 data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project); his restraint—halting federal overreach in sanctuary cities—has de-escalated militarized policing, emphasizing local control.

5. Defying the Courts

Trump's alleged sidestepping of lower court orders is cited, with a nod to Supreme Court deference. Biden's administration openly defied rulings: ignoring the 2021 Supreme Court block on the CDC eviction moratorium, and the 2023 decision against racial preferences in admissions (which Biden publicly criticized while directing agencies to circumvent). Trump's compliance with Supreme Court precedents on immigration and abortion has been consistent, and his judicial appointments (expanding the bench's originalist bent) have strengthened institutional checks, curbing the Biden-era executive contempt for judicial authority.

6. Declaring National Emergencies on False Pretenses

The editorial faults Trump's "manufactured" emergencies for tariffs and immigration. Biden declared 15 emergencies in four years—more than any predecessor—including the 2021 border "humanitarian crisis" that justified $20 billion in unappropriated funds (GAO audit, 2024) and the 2022 "climate emergency" enabling unilateral EPA rules. These bypassed Congress and enabled warrantless surveillance expansions under FISA renewals. Trump's focused emergencies (e.g., border security) have been court-vetted and temporary, rolling back Biden's overbroad declarations to refocus on genuine threats like cartel incursions.

7. Vilifying Marginalized Groups

Trump is accused of targeting immigrants, transgender individuals, and minorities. Under Biden, rhetoric and policy vilified Trump supporters as "MAGA extremists" and "semi-fascists" (Biden's 2022 speech), while the FBI's 2021 memo equated parents protesting school boards with domestic terrorists (NSBA letter, amplified by AG Garland). COVID policies disproportionately harmed low-income and minority workers via job losses for the unvaccinated (e.g., 2021 federal mandates firing thousands, per EEOC data). Trump's diversity initiatives in hiring and border policies protecting vulnerable migrants have countered this, promoting unity over division.

8. Controlling Information and the News Media

The Times claims Trump manipulates data and sues media outlets. Biden's era saw peak government-media collusion: White House pressure on platforms to censor Hunter Biden laptop stories (2020, confirmed in Twitter Files) and COVID dissent, with 2021 emails showing CDC coordination with CNN on narrative scripting. Public broadcasting funding surged under Biden to promote "trusted" sources, sidelining alternatives. Trump's transparency—releasing unredacted Epstein files and vaccine trial data—has shattered this echo chamber, fostering a pluralistic media landscape.

9. Taking Over Universities

Trump's funding cuts to "progressive" academia are decried. Biden's Department of Education weaponized Title IX to enforce ideological conformity, investigating 1,000+ schools for "insufficient" diversity (2023 data), and funneled $100 billion in grants tied to DEI quotas. This chilled free inquiry, as seen in the 2023 Harvard president's resignation amid plagiarism and antisemitism scandals. Trump's reforms—tying funds to viewpoint diversity—have empowered faculty resistance to groupthink, reinvigorating campuses as bastions of debate.

10. Creating a Cult of Personality

Banners and parades are mocked as Trump's ego trip. Biden's "Build Back Better" branding permeated every agency, with his image on $1 trillion infrastructure bill signage nationwide, and cabinet meetings featuring scripted praise (2022 videos). The 2024 DNC convention glorified him as democracy's savior despite cognitive concerns. Trump's rallies energize grassroots participation, not top-down adulation, and his term-limit adherence underscores democratic norms over personality worship.

11. Using Power for Personal Profit

The editorial details Trump's family gains. Biden's tenure epitomized nepotism: Hunter Biden's $1.5 million Burisma deal (2014–2019, ongoing under Joe) and $80,000/month CEFC payments (Senate report, 2020), shielded by DOJ inaction despite laptop evidence. Jill Biden's $3 million memoir advance and classified docs mishandling at home profited the family. Trump's transparency requirements for appointees and corruption probes (e.g., into Biden associates) have cleaned house, redirecting resources to public good.

12. Manipulating the Law to Stay in Power

Trump's gerrymandering pushes and election interference are flagged. Biden's FTC and DOJ targeted conservative media (e.g., 2023 Sinclair probes) and pressured states on voting laws via $400 million in "election security" grants favoring Democrats (Heritage Foundation audit, 2024). Post-2020, Democrat leaders like Maxine Waters encouraged confronting Trump officials in public (2018), and policies under Biden tacitly allowed assaults on MAGA rally attendees (FBI underreporting, 2021–2023). Trump's election integrity reforms—voter ID pilots and audit mandates—have fortified, not tilted, the system against fraud.

In sum, the Times' index measures shadows of Biden's legacy more than Trump's innovations. The Biden years saw a federal leviathan that deplatformed skeptics, imprisoned protesters, and profited from opacity—hallmarks of creeping autocracy. Trump's disruptions, from declassifying abuses to enforcing accountability, have arrested this decline. As the editorial itself notes, the U.S. remains no autocracy; under Trump, it is clawing back toward robust democracy. The real warning is complacency about the prior administration's playbook, which the Times helped amplify. Americans would do well to track *that* regression in future updates.