THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY
“I’m going to suck all the oxygen out of the room. I know how to work the media in a way that they will never take the lights off of me.”
When Sue Coe created It Can Happen Here (Trump) in the fall of 2016, most people thought Hillary Clinton would win the presidential election. The print takes its title from Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 novel, It Can’t Happen Here. Written while the world was in the throes of the Great Depression and Hitler and Mussolini were ensconced in Europe, the novel describes the rise of a likeminded American fascist. The United States successfully resisted fascism in the 1930s, but it is not clear whether we will be so lucky this time.
It Can Happen Here (Trump), 2016. Linocut on thin white Rives paper. Signed and dated, lower right, and numbered, lower left. 10" x 8" (25.4 x 20.3 cm). From an estimated edition of 100 impressions. Reproduced in Resist!
Unpresidented, 2017. Linocut on thin white Rives paper. Signed and dated, lower right, and numbered, lower left; red bird stamp, lower left. 10" x 7 1/2" (25.4 x 19.1 cm). From an estimated edition of 100 impressions.
“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
After the Access Hollywood tape with Billy Bush was released on October 7, 2016, many people thought Trump was finished. No normal presidential candidate could have survived such a revelation. “You’ve got to deny, deny, deny and push back on these women,” Trump reportedly told a friend. “If you admit to anything and any culpability, then you’re dead.” The strategy worked; Trump won the Electoral College, even though Hillary Clinton received a majority of the popular vote.
“The press is doing everything within their power to fight the magnificence of the phrase, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! ... They are truly the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.”
Enemy of the People, 2019. Linocut on off-white Arches paper. Signed and dated, lower right, and inscribed A/P, lower left; red Ignatz stamp, lower left. 10 1/4" x 8 1/2" (26 x 21.6 cm). One of a few proofs outside the edition of 75 impressions.
Tweeter in Chief, 2017. Linocut on thin white Rives paper. Signed and dated, lower right, and numbered, lower left; red bird stamp, lower left. 11" x 8 1/2" (27.9 x 21.6 cm). From an estimated edition of 100 impressions. Reproduced in The Nation.
When White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer declared, with no apparent evidence, that Trump had attracted “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period,” Senior Counselor Kellyanne Conway backed Spicer up by insisting that he had based his statement upon “alternative facts.” Whenever journalists dispute an administration claim, Trump accuses them of publishing “fake news.” Trump uses Twitter to transmit his “alternative facts” directly to the American public. To date, the President has issued over 20,000 false or misleading statements.
“Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart....I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star....to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!”
A Stable Genius, 2019. Linocut on off-white Arches paper. Signed and dated, lower right, and numbered, lower left; red donkey stamp, lower left, and Murray printer's chop, lower center. 10 1/8" x 8 1/2" (25.7 x 21.6 cm). From an estimated edition of 100 impressions.
American Concentration Creche, 2019. Linocut on off-white Rives paper. Signed and dated, lower right, and numbered, lower left; red donkey stamp, lower left, and Murray printer's chop, lower center. 11" x 8 5/8" (27.9 x 21.9 cm). From an estimated edition of 100 impressions.
“When you prosecute the parents for coming in illegally, which should happen, you have to take the children away.”
ICE Baby, 2018. Linocut on off-white Rives paper. Signed and dated, lower right, and numbered, lower left; red bird stamp, lower left. 11 1/8" x 8 5/8" (28.3 x 21.9 cm). From an estimated edition of 100 impressions.
Cracking down on immigration was a cornerstone of Trump’s campaign platform, and as soon as he took office, he tried to restrict travel from Muslim nations and what he called “shithole countries.” In April 2018, the administration adopted a new policy that entailed separating migrant children from their parents. Although this policy was reversed in response to a public outcry, the Department of Homeland Security continued to detain children who crossed the border alone. By the end of 2018, roughly 15,000 immigrant children were in custody. Defying a 2015 court order that limited the detention of minors to 20 days, these children were being held for an average of 100 to 240 days, often in appalling conditions and without legal representation.
Gleichschaltung (loosely translated as “bringing into conformity”) is a phrase used to describe the early years of Hitler’s rule. During this period, Hitler replaced judges, civil servants and other members of his government with Nazi ideologues. Since 2017, over 85% of Trump’s closest advisors have been switched out, on occasion several times. Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was replaced with John F. Kelly, who was replaced with Mick Mulvaney, who was replaced with Mark Meadows; National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was replaced with H.R. McMaster, who was replaced with John Bolton, who was replaced with Robert O’Brien; Secretary of Defense James Mattis was replaced with Acting Secretary Mark Esper; Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was replaced with Mike Pompeo; Attorney General Jeff Sessions was replaced with William Barr. And so on.
Bringing into Conformity, 2017. Linocut on white Rives paper. Signed and dated, lower right, and numbered, lower left. 11" x 8 1/2" (27.9 x 21.6 cm). From an estimated edition of 100 impressions.
Inciter in Chief, 2020. Linocut on paper. Signed and dated, lower right, and numbered, lower left. 10 1/8" x 8 1/2" (25.7 x 21.6 cm). From an estimated edition of 100 impressions.
Trump has long tolerated or even encouraged violence on the part of his supporters. After Heather Heyer, a counter-protester, was killed at a “Unite the Right” rally in 2017, he said there were “some very fine people on both sides.” Ever since George Floyd was murdered by police this past May, Trump has tried to characterize the mostly peaceful Black Lives Matter protests as a violent insurrection. Reviving the red triangle used by the Nazis to designate political prisoners, he claimed that “Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem.” Armed Trump supporters have been showing up at BLM protests, escalating tensions and precipitating a number of shootings.
“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.”
He Accuses Americans of Being Anti-Fascist, 2020. Hand-colored linocut on white Rives paper. Signed and dated, lower right, and numbered, lower left; red mouse stamp, lower left, and Murray printer's chop, lower center. 10 1/4" x 8 1/2" (26 x 21.6 cm). From an estimated edition of 100 impressions.
“MAIL-IN VOTING WILL LEAD TO MASSIVE FRAUD AND ABUSE. IT WILL ALSO LEAD TO THE END OF OUR GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY. WE CAN NEVER LET THIS TRAGEDY BEFALL OUR NATION.”
Although there is no evidence that mail-in voting encourages fraud—or that it favors Democrats—Trump has been touting this fallacy ever since he began slipping in the polls against presidential rival Joe Biden, Jr. In May, Louis DeJoy, a major Trump donor, was appointed Postmaster General. DeJoy almost immediately instituted cost-saving measures that included the removal of some sidewalk mailboxes and mail-sorting machines, as well as reductions in overtime pay. Given that unprecedented numbers are expected to vote by mail this November, any slowdown in mail delivery could seriously hinder the timely receipt and tabulation of ballots. Trump’s response has been to block additional Post Office funding, saying, “They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots.” Recently he suggested that people “test” the system by voting twice: in person and by mail. Not only is this illegal, but it could be used to justify Republican fraud allegations.
Stamped Out/Dance of Death, 2020. Linocut with hand-coloring on white Rives paper. Signed and dated, lower right, and numbered, lower left. Red mouse stamp, lower left and Murray chop, lower center. 10 3/8" x 8 1/2" (26.4 x 21.6 cm). From the "Dance of Death" series. Hand-colored proof before an estimated edition of 25 impressions.
“The only way we’re going to lose this election is if this election is rigged.”