In a speech noticeably devoid of either facts or truth, President Donald Trump spoke to the people of the United States and the world on Thursday to deliver what White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt characterized as “a major address to the nation on protecting the integrity of our elections.” I call it setting the stage to advance further toward fascism and to continue undermining democratic participation in voting by Black and Brown people and by all working people.

Trump presented a rationale for the federal government to take over the election process nationally in the form of working with the states to “help” them deal with rampant voter fraud, even though it has been demonstrated that such fraud is virtually nonexistent. The only voting emergency is the manufactured power grab to take voting rights away from millions of eligible voters of color, working class voters, and women with no passports or who changed their name in marriage from that on their birth certificate.

He asserted — with no proof — that voting machines were tampered with in Georgia and elsewhere and therefore federal partnership with states was required to ensure that election results could be trusted. One of the biggest frauds in U.S. history, a lifelong con man and convicted rapist, Trump contends only he can restore Americans’ trust in the election system.

Further, he mobilized his base to pressure their representatives to vote on the SAVE Act. The Act is described, much as Trump frames many issues, as a common-sense, easy-to-adhere-to piece of legislation that would not make voting any more difficult. One would just need to show a photo ID proving that they are a United States citizen. A passport is the most common form of that identification. About half the U.S. population has a valid passport. To get a passport costs over $100 and is good for ten years. Those with passports tend to be wealthier people.

The skewing toward the rich matters directly for the citizenship-documentation fight against the SAVE America Act: a passport is one of the acceptable proofs of citizenship, but since ownership clusters among wealthier, more educated Americans, requiring it (or an equivalent, like a REAL ID with citizenship indicators) as a registration prerequisite would fall hardest on working-class voters — precisely the people already least likely to have the documents or the spare income to obtain them.

Getting a new passport today takes about 4–6 weeks. That puts the cutoff date for applying for a passport in early late August to have it in time to register — that’s just a little more than a month away. While registration end dates vary, most are before Oct. 25. It is unrealistic to expect masses of people to get passports before the next elections on November 3, 2026.

For Trump, getting this Act passed is a necessity. If there is a big turnout in November’s elections, it is likely that, as Trump himself said, he will be impeached. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon spoke the truth out loud. He “told a hall full of conservatives that if Democrats win the 2026 midterm elections and the presidency in 2028, some of them will go to prison,” including him.

Trump barely beat Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, winning by a margin of 1.5%, with almost a third of voting-age citizens not voting. He is deeply unpopular today due to unleashing his personal ICE army on our communities, and having army and National Guard soldiers patrolling our towns and cities. He is not responding to the economic pain his tax cuts and wars are inflicting on the working class — because he dismisses concerns about the cost of living for Americans, calling such criticism a “con” by Democrats and touting his record on inflation.

Asserting that “U.S. adversaries… have the capability to compromise U.S. voting infrastructure,” Trump justified the federal government intruding into state voting activities. He sees mail-in ballots as “inherently corrupt” and calls for them to be done away with except in very limited circumstances.

In response, working people must do everything necessary to ensure a historically massive turnout of people to vote. It’s imperative that we work over the 110 days between now and the elections to stop the destruction of democracy as we know it .

It’s time to tell the fascist Trump, and his once-friend Bannon, that their nightmare scenarios will come true: Trump will be impeached and Bannon imprisoned. This is a moment when we, all the people of the United States, will — through our actions — determine the path our society will travel for many years to come.

Will fascism and arbitrary rule by the super-rich impoverish the working class even further, or will we workers stand tall, remember which side we are on, and prevent the SAVE Act from being imposed on us, make our votes count, and keep growing our movements for social change? The days of decision are now!

All out for democracy, to protect the rule of law and the (admittedly broken) Constitution, and for a huge people’s movement that can set the direction of the country toward people and planet before profits, on the path to socialism.

!Sí, se puede!

Images: 20221104_162630 by People’s World. CC BY-NC 2.0.