The ABUSE OF POWER IS OBVIOUS AND DANGEROUS.

Opinion
Jamelle Bouie

The Hunting of Ilhan Omar
Oct. 21, 2026

You can understand the Trump administration as, in its essence, a cargo cult devoted to the illiberal tradition in American politics.

At every turn, it seeks to instantiate a society where, as the historian Steven Hahn writes, “rights-bearing may be defined or limited by specific rulers or be based on communities of race, ethnicity, religion, and gender” and where “civil and political standing tend to be marked by social and cultural exclusions.” To this end, it uses power “in its most naked and aggressive forms,” including outright violence.

What makes this a cargo cult is the extent to which the administration is preoccupied with summoning the image of a consolidated authoritarian state, versus taking the concrete steps needed to unravel liberal democracy as such. It is less concerned with passing laws than it is with projecting an image of dominance over civil society, whether or not there is a durable settlement. It does this through dramatic action whose central purpose is to menace, threaten and otherwise send a message.

The Department of Homeland Security’s recent raid on the Washington home of Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota is a striking example of all of the above…

…If the Trump administration has one trick, it’s this: to abuse its power in increasingly draconian and autocratic ways, in the hope that it will establish the authoritarian dominance it tried to project. It is terribly destructive. It also doesn’t work. Looking at the growing odds of a Republican electoral catastrophe in November, I don’t think it will.

But if we can be certain of anything, it’s this: They won’t stop trying.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/21/opinion/trump-ilhan-omar-emma-goldman.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KVE.-XeO.n25zTiJgD3Kk&smid=nytcore-ios-share