There have been many disgraceful events during Trump’s presidency, but few could top last night’s debate. Trump’s complete unwillingness to exhibit any civility, or acknowledge that he is accountable to facts and reality, revealed to the entire world that the American right-wing has arrived at a politics that is no longer compatible with democratic norms.

Let’s not just bemoan Trump’s repugnant boorishness. We must also recognize that his bullying is done in the service of a reactionary agenda. Indeed, the two go hand-in-hand. Trump represents a politics that can not be defended on a 21st century debate stage.

Trump is supported by 40% of the electorate because, on the one hand, his policies unabashedly serve the interests of the American elite (tax cuts, fossil fuel production, pro-corporate judges, etc.).  On the other hand, he supports the maintenance of racism, and the logic of America as a white settler state colonial enterprise. None of that is conducive to democracy, either; let alone to building a just and equitable society. Rather, it is in harmony with the logic of authoritarianism and fascism.