THIS IS HOW AUTHORITARIANS BEGIN THE PURGES- F*CK THAT!

Trump’s Call to Prosecute Six Democrats for “Sedition” Isn’t Politics...It’s the Opening Move of a Regime Consolidating Power

*Donald Trump and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio. Deluzio is one of six Democrats who urged our military men and women to not follow illegal orders.

THIS IS HOW AUTHORITARIANS BEGIN THE PURGES-F*CK THAT!

Trump’s Call to Prosecute Six Democrats for “Sedition” Isn’t Politics…It’s the Opening Move of a Regime Consolidating Power

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #655: Thursday, November 20th, 2025.

There are moments in history when a nation gets a glimpse…just a glimpse…of the future that’s racing toward it.

Not a headline.
Not a scandal.
Not another “Trump being Trump” moment.

But a signal.

A line in the sand.

A moment where anyone who knows how democracies fall can hear the faint grinding sound of gears shifting into a different…and darker…mode.

Today was one of those moments.

Donald Trump openly called for six Democrats to be prosecuted for sedition.

Not corruption.
Not ethics violations.
Not policy failures.

Sedition.

Let me be brutally clear:

When a politician begins calling for the criminal prosecution of opposing political leaders…not for crimes…but for opposition…that nation is no longer dealing in politics.

It is dealing in regime behavior. REGIME BEHAVIOR.

THE WORD “SEDITION” IS A WEAPON

That word wasn’t chosen by accident.

Sedition is the legal pretext authoritarians use when they want to:

• purge rivals

• criminalize dissent

• rewrite history

• weaponize courts

• terrify the opposition into silence

It’s the charge tyrants reach for when they want to clean house…but want the public to believe it’s “law and order.”

Authoritarians don’t purge their enemies by calling it a purge.

They call it justice.
They call it patriotism.
They call it national security.

And their supporters cheer because they think they’re watching the bad guys get punished…not the opposition eliminated.

That’s the trick.

And Trump is running the play.

THE DANGER ISN’T WHAT HE’S SAYING TODAY

The danger is what his supporters begin to believe they’re entitled to do tomorrow.

Because once millions of Americans internalize the idea that political opposition equals treason, the next step is not a speech…it’s enforcement.

History shows this clearly:

Authoritarians don’t seize total power all at once.

They create moral permission first.

THIS IS HOW DEMOCRACIES DIE

Not with a coup.

But with a story.

A story that teaches ordinary citizens that dissent is dangerous.
That opponents are enemies.
That elections are existential battles.
That losing power means losing the country.

Once that narrative hardens…the purge isn’t seen as tyranny…
it’s seen as a moral necessity.

And that’s where Trump…is leading his followers.

THE NATION MUST NOT GO QUIET RIGHT NOW

And that’s exactly why today matters.

The lesson of history is not that authoritarians rise quickly.

It’s that populations adapt slowly.

People normalize one step…then the next…then the next…until the thing that once felt unthinkable suddenly feels like a natural conclusion.

This is step one in the purge phase.

Not the purge itself.

The story that justifies the purge.

THE NATION MUST NOT GO QUIET RIGHT NOW

This is one of those moments where silence is complicity.

When a democratic society allows a political leader to redefine opposition as criminality…it becomes a matter of when… not if…the machinery is used.

And when it is finally used…it will happen fast.

THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN

If you’re reading this…you’re not a spectator.

You see patterns.
You connect dots.
You don’t wait for cable news to validate…what you already know in your bones.

You are part of the small percentage of people…who refuse to sleepwalk through history.

Do not underestimate your role.

A democracy doesn’t survive because its Constitution is strong.
It survives because its citizens refuse to let power cross certain lines.

Today…one of those lines was crossed. The only line that matters, now. That one line…was more than enough.

What To Do Next

Here’s what matters right now:

• watch for donor silence

• watch for Fox narrative shifts

• watch for Republican operatives suddenly using the word “stability”

• watch for “reasonable voices” calling for “unity through accountability”

That’s how the purge gets framed as responsible governance.

BONUS: THE MOST DANGEROUS PHASE ISN’T WHEN AUTHORITARIANS TAKE POWER…IT’S WHEN PEOPLE GET TIRED OF FIGHTING BACK

Let me tell you something most people don’t want to admit:

America isn’t in danger because Trump says insane…anti-democratic…authoritarian things.

America is in danger because the public is exhausted from hearing them.

This is how democracies fall…not through shock…but through fatigue.

Now do you understand why I have focused so much on building resilience the last couple of years…and will continue to?

I knew this moment would come. It was inevitable. And…here we are.

At first…people were outraged.
Then alarmed.
Then numb.
Now?

They hear a former president call for political opponents to be tried for sedition and shrug.

That’s the rot.

The collapse doesn’t happen when the tyrant roars…
it happens when the people stop flinching.

Authoritarians count on that.

They wait for that moment.

And then they move fast.

History doesn’t repeat itself with boots on the ground first.
History repeats itself…when an exhausted population…is finally too mentally and emotionally depleted to resist the next escalation.

Trump isn’t testing Democrats.

He’s testing your tolerance.

He’s asking:

“How far can I push before people react?”

And every time the reaction is weaker than the last…that’s the green light for the next escalation.

This is the part where ordinary nations sleepwalk into extraordinary consequences.

Which means the real frontline right now isn’t Congress…or courts…or media.

It’s whether you still give a damn.

If you care…democracy has a chance.

LET ME MAKE SOMETHING CRYSTAL DAMN CLEAR:

I still care.

I took an oath.
Not as a slogan.
Not as a phase.
But as a permanent operating system.

I didn’t forget it.
I’m not walking away from it.
And I sure as hell am not backing down…because the fight got ugly.

Two years ago…I found my role…right here…and I made a private promise that I’d pour every ounce of skill…experience…and clarity I’ve earned in this life into helping the people who refuse to say:

“This is just the way it is now.”

MY JOB IS SIMPLE:

To keep people mentally sharp…emotionally grounded…physically resilient…spiritually anchored…and in the fight long after the headlines are designed to exhaust them.

To help ordinary Americans stay in the arena when the country needs them most.

This isn’t content.
It’s commitment.

I’m here.
I’m locked in.
And I’m…not going anywhere.

If you go numb…the wolves walk right in.

Don’t get numb.

Not now.

Not ever.

This is when the nation needs people who refuse to “tune out” because it’s easier.

This is when the country needs stubborn people who stay loud even when it feels pointless.

This is when it needs you.

Stay aware.
Stay sharp.
Stay loud.

History is sprinting.

We sprint with it…or we get run over. F*ck that.

THIS IS WHERE WE HOLD THE LINE

If this moment pissed you off…OUTSTANDING.

Now do something with that anger.

Here’s what matters right now, not someday:

1. Contact your representatives THIS WEEK
Not to vent…
but to put them on record opposing political prosecution of opposition figures.

Use language like:

“You must publicly condemn the use of criminal charges against political opponents. Silence is complicity.”

Make them commit.

2. Share this article with three people who still think ‘this can’t happen here’
Not doom-scrollers.
Not the defeated.
People who still fight.

The avalanche starts with awareness.

3. Do not let this disappear into holiday news-cycle fatigue
The regime is counting on Americans checking out between now and January.

Don’t be one of them.

4. Make it socially unacceptable to cheer political purges
Call it what it is…
dictatorship behavior.

Public shame is a weapon, too.

---

5. Stay loud. Stay seen. Stay organized.
Authoritarians don’t fear outrage.
They fear persistence.

They fear the people who don’t go away.

If you’re part of this community…act like it

This newsletter is not entertainment.
It’s a rally point for people still willing to fight.

You’re here for a reason.
Make today count…and tomorrow…and the next day…

Back soon,

-Jack

P.S.

Tomorrow…or Saturday… I’m publishing the paid, deeper breakdown:

How authoritarian regimes weaponize prosecution to eliminate rivals…and how to detect the pattern before it hits.

If you’re not on the paid side yet…this is the moment to join the people who refuse to be surprised when history moves.

Also…look for the newsletter I originally had planned to send out today…later this evening. When I saw the word “Seditious,” my priorities shifted…appropriately so…thus, you got this issue of JHN…first.