People & Power

America’s Authoritarians: The US political divide

How the spread of wild conspiracy theories has undermined democratic institutions and social stability in the US.

Watch Part 1 above. Watch Part 2 below.

With guns in their hands and faith in God at their side, many Republicans in the United States continue to believe that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.

As a result, the country remains deeply divided over the last contest for the White House – and the violent attempts at the Capitol that followed to overturn the result.

Now, as the November 2022 mid-term elections draw near, this poisonous ideological clash reflects such starkly contrasting interpretations of “freedom” and “authoritarianism”, that some fear the very basis of America’s democratic consensus is in peril.

In a special two-part report for People and Power, correspondent Bob Abeshouse investigates the reasons for this division – and those seeking to exploit it for political gain.

Part 2: