Autocracy in America – “Elections Distorted”

Podcast: Autocracy in America
Host: Anne Applebaum (The Atlantic)
Air Date: February 6, 2026
Featured Guest: Stacey Abrams

Episode Overview

This episode focuses on recent sweeping changes to U.S. election laws, processes, and political norms, examining how these shifts—spurred by the Trump administration and Republican-led state governments—are shaping the very core of American democracy. The discussion, led by Anne Applebaum and guest Stacey Abrams, delves into election integrity, new voter restrictions, redistricting, voter suppression tactics, and their implications for the future of democracy in America.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Stories of Voter Suppression

• Dawn Baldwin Gibson’s Experience (00:00–04:30):
  A firsthand account from a North Carolina voter whose ballot was challenged during the state’s Supreme Court election, highlighting the growing anxiety and uncertainty around voting rights.

  • Quote:
    Dawn Baldwin Gibson (A):
    “They were not challenging my vote. They were showing that I had done everything that I was supposed to have done for my vote to count. But Jefferson Griffin’s team, they were the ones challenging my vote. And that seemed like changing the rules after the results are not what you want.” (02:05)

  • Civic engagement was mobilized in response; even though votes were eventually counted, the process generated stress and fear in rural communities:

    • Quote:
      Dawn Baldwin Gibson:
      “Every time I go to vote, is this what I’m gonna have to put up with?” (03:00)

• Historical Context: Connection to the family’s legacy of voting after emancipation stresses the broader stakes for democracy.

2. The Mechanics of Voter Suppression

• Stacey Abrams (C) breaks down voter suppression into three critical components:

  1. Can you register and stay on the rolls?
  2. Can you cast a ballot?
  3. Does your ballot get counted? (05:24)
  • Quote:
    “What we have seen happen over the last decade and a half since the erosion of the Voting Rights Act is this wholesale attack on all three of those points of entry to democracy.” (05:34)

• Abrams emphasizes the acceleration and normalization of such suppression as an authoritarian tool:

  • “It is going to be the most effective tool used by authoritarians to thwart the will of the people in the next few years.” (06:13)

3. Redistricting & Federal Pressure

• Nationalization of Gerrymandering (06:23–11:09):

  • Distinction between court-ordered versus partisan-motivated mid-cycle redistricting.

    • Abrams explains the unprecedented nature of the president directly pushing states to redraw lines for partisan advantage:
      • Quote:
        “We have never had a President of the United States explicitly state that the lines should be redrawn not based on population, but based on voter outcome… that is a shift of power.” (07:50)

  • Calif. Governor Newsom’s response: Engaged in redistricting as a counter-move.

    • Quote:
      "What Gavin Newsom understands is that performative pragmatism is not the response. This is an open battle for the kind of government we're going to have... We are going to either win or lose democracy in the next few years." (09:35)

  • Danger highlighted: If one party controls the rules, “we won’t have the debate anymore because changing the lines won’t matter, because the elections won’t matter.” (10:45)

4. New Federal Voter ID Laws: The SAVE Act

• SAVE Act Requirements (11:09–14:39):
  The proposed law would require in-person voter registration and physical proof of U.S. citizenship for federal elections, raising new obstacles.

  • Abrams details impact on specific groups:

    • Married women, transgender people, Black voters without original birth certificates, working-class and low-income Americans.
    • Quote:
      "The SAVE act has disproportionate effect on very targeted communities. The 69 million women who may have changed their names after marriage, transgender people who may have had name changes... millions would be disenfranchised." (11:54)

  • Lack of evidence for voter fraud:

    • Quote:
      “There was a report that came out after the 2020 election. We don't have voter fraud in this country. It's hard enough getting people to vote.” (12:45)

  • Potential for partisan manipulation:

    • "If the federal government controls that data... they can then start to attack thousands and thousands of voters and win on the margins, not by actually winning the election, but by forcing voter suppression to lead people to simply not bother trying." (15:34)

5. Stacey Abrams’ 2018 Gubernatorial Race: Concession & Systemic Abuse

• Distinguishing concession from acceptance (15:48–18:27):

  • Abrams discusses why she did not use the term “concede” in her loss to Brian Kemp despite “acknowledging the outcome.” She refused to legitimize a process she felt was skewed by voter suppression.

    • Quote:
      "I said he was going to be governor. I was not. But I refused to use the word concede because concession ... meant to say that the system that he leveraged was true or correct or proper. And I could not in good conscience say that." (16:43)

  • Contrast to Trump’s 2020 actions:
    "Running for office does not guarantee you victory. But being a citizen in this country should guarantee you access to the right to vote." (18:27)

6. “Illegal Voting” Rhetoric & Voter Intimidation

• Debunked Claims & Chilling Effects (19:07–23:03):

  • The myth of mass illegal immigrant voting serves to justify restrictive laws and sow mistrust.

    • Quote:
      "Lies work. Lies are a very effective deterrent for voter participation... When people think that it is going to be too hard, when they think that it is going to be dangerous, they don't vote." (20:05)

  • Historic and modern examples:

    • Reference to 1981 New Jersey, where armed guards intimidated Black voters.
    • Quote:
      "The reason it became so important was that people would say, I'm not going to vote because I could be arrested. Not that they had done something wrong, but they were afraid of being arrested..." (20:32)

  • Militarization and paramilitary threats:

    • ICE and National Guard’s deployment is discussed as voter intimidation.
    • "Authoritarianism isn’t about winning a single election. It is about dismantling a democratic system and installing a system that lacks accountability and has unchecked power." (22:47)

7. Election Information, Disinformation, and Platform Control

• TikTok & Political Information (24:03–26:11):

  • Potential transfer of TikTok to Trump-friendly billionaires is flagged as a risk for shaping youth voter perceptions.

  • Quote:
    "Voting is as much a cultural event as it is a practical one. ... If you have conversations with those in the Latino population, they will tell you about the very subtle language that got inserted into conversations... that reminded them that their participation would be akin to supporting a regime that their families escaped from a decade before." (25:31)

  • Targeted Disinformation:

    • Research shows disinformation intentionally aims to suppress minority turnout by sowing cynicism or fear.

8. Responding to the Multi-pronged Attack on Democracy

• Complex, Layered Problem Requires Layered Solution (26:51–28:57):

  • The decentralized U.S. system means both local and national action is needed.

  • Quote:
    “We have to have a multi layered, multi pronged response to what is a multi layered, multi pronged attack. But I fundamentally believe ... that we can indeed fight back. But you cannot fight if you do not understand the opposition.” (28:27)

  • The defense of democracy demands vigilance, organizing, and broad participation across all levels—from poll watching to school board elections.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dawn Baldwin Gibson: “The breaking down of democracy is not going to happen on our watch. This is our time where history will look back and say, in 2025, there were people that stood and said, I will be seen, I will be heard, and my vote will count.” (04:15)

• Stacey Abrams:

  • “When you decide that the districts are not designed to allow voters to elect their leaders, is designed to allow leaders to elect their voters, that is a shift of power.” (07:54)
  • “This is about whether democracy wins or authoritarianism wins.” (28:42)

• Anne Applebaum:

  • “It’s illogical to think that illegal immigrants are eagerly voting in American elections. And there is no evidence that they do. ... Is this because they genuinely fear illegal voters, or does it have a different purpose?” (19:07)

Essential Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |------------|-----------------------------------| | 00:00 | Dawn Baldwin Gibson’s story begins| | 04:30 | Introduction to voter suppression | | 05:24 | Stacey Abrams on voter suppression| | 06:23 | Gerrymandering & federal pressure | | 11:09 | The SAVE Act & voter ID laws | | 15:48 | Abrams on her 2018 governor race | | 19:07 | “Illegal voter” claims examined | | 24:03 | Disinformation & platform control | | 26:51 | How to fight back (solutions) | | 28:57 | Closing remarks |

Tone & Takeaways

The episode is urgent, direct, and grounded both in personal testimony and systemic analysis. It echoes the seriousness of the current moment, warning that these anti-democratic changes—legal, procedural, cultural—are designed not just to marginally affect elections, but to fundamentally reshape the American system of government.

Listeners are called to action: defending democracy requires not just awareness but active participation at every level. The stakes, as Abrams and Applebaum underscore, are nothing less than the survival of American democracy itself.