From Shane Goldmacher, at the NYT:

A series of new remarks by Donald J. Trump about the aftermath of the 2020 election and new disclosures about his actions in trying to forestall its result — including discussing the use of the national security apparatus to seize voting machines — have stripped away any pretense that the events of Jan. 6, 2021, were anything but the culmination of the former president’s single-minded pursuit of retaining power….

But historians say the episodes and Mr. Trump’s new comments acknowledging his determination to stay in power — and his effective embrace of the Jan. 6 rioters at the Capitol, who he said must be treated “fairly” — have newly underscored the fragility of the nation’s democratic systems.

Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, said voters were understandably desensitized, if not numb, after a year in which Mr. Trump methodically sought to undermine faith in the electoral process.

“I actually think the American public is dramatically underplaying how significant and dangerous this is,” he said, “because we cannot process the basic truth of what we are learning about President Trump’s efforts — which is we’ve never had a president before who fundamentally placed his own personal interests above the nation’s.”…

Mr. Trump’s discussion of pardons and of Mr. Pence’s potential to overturn the election, as well as his encouragement of another mass rally — against law-enforcement officials — were met mostly with a shrug among Capitol Hill Republicans….

“He is using his supporters as his own kind of militia,” said Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Rice University. Mr. Trump, he said, was essentially telling his followers to “be ready because this could end up being the new civil war.”

“He is just wanting to have people angry and ready to take up arms if need be,” Mr. Brinkley added. “And that feeds into the fantasy-scape of every militia group in the country.”…

“Extremists, in Trump’s case, found a champion for their cause in the highest office,” Mr. Segal said, because Mr. Trump mirrored their sense of grievance, anger and rage. “He sounds like them,” he added. “That’s why they react.”