America has been slowly becoming an Egyptian-like state for the past 39 years. It all began in 1980 when Reagan was elected president. He built a veil around our democratic system that we have relied on for 204 years to that point. During the past 36 years prior to the 2016 election, the veil has been largely in place and was well-maintained. The veil started showing signs of cracking after the 2008 financial crisis, and would begin to completely fall apart after the 2012 NDAA was passed. Trump did not destroy our democracy; he ripped back the veil that was covering our democracy that had been slowly but surely decaying since 1980. We are in the late stages of the Tuytler cycle and Trump's election happened partly because the fiscal policies that were enacted in response to the 2008 financial crisis were too loose. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2020/07/29/commentary/world-commentary/coup-easily-happen-u-s-soon/