I think I mentioned a while back that we have moved to a much grimmer situation since the loser got fired. It doesn't feel that way to most on the left because Biden is now leading and Ds hold majorities in Congress. But the GQP has since significantly increased efforts to shift us even further away from being a functioning democracy. The base was very well primed long before Trump to hate government and to believe that Ds wanted to destroy their country. Then Trump came in and planted the seed that the way we do things (e.g. fair elections, following diplomatic protocols, maintaining sacred checks and balances) has been all wrong and perhaps we need to function more like Russia and other authoritarian regimes (note the consistent shout outs and love he displayed toward dictators). This is a big reason why R voters happily turned a blind eye to his blatant corruption. They agree! By now the R base is fully prepared to accept autocratic leadership to bring their country back. And in their view, if the GQP runs over the "libs" in the process then even better.
I have an old acquaintance from college who was a die hard libertarian (though he didn't know what it meant) then turned trumpist. From my circle of friends I heard that now he's put trump behind him and only talks about how much better and more efficiently certain countries do things. His favorite example of a well functioning country is Belarus "because the leader is actually allowed to govern with the power that was given to him." He last told them he has given up on America and doesn't think it's "fixable" anymore (aka trump lost and there is no future under D leadership). He is actively advocating for a revolution as the only way forward.
What most Ds don't get is that the sense of urgency from Rs has only grown over the years. Over the years they have been told by their R leaders that the government is working against them, that Ds want to kill their babies and take their guns away. They have been reminded over and over that being white is no longer enough to ensure prosperity in the US and that foreigners are outperforming them. They see jobs being lost and no one to wave a magic wand to save them. They have seen many examples of democratic flaws which have been intentionally portrayed by right wind media as catastrophic failures of governance, removal of their god given rights, and illicit acts by greedy deep state operatives. That's the only America they see now, the end of days as far as they are concerned. These people stand ready to accept autocratic rule and the GQP is going to do everything in their power to make it happen.
So here's what happens next.
1. The GQP continues to grant themselves power over local election results, under the guise of remedying the stolen election.
2. They continue to purge any "traitors" who dare exhibit any honesty.
3. They will keep protecting the loser king, but only for the sake of keeping the mouth breathers happy. They know trump will not be allowed to run and even if he is, that he will get crushed.
4. They will grift and crime openly, and any legal and political consequences will only serve as "proof that the libs are destroying their last chance to get their country back."
5. They will use their self-given powers to suppress votes and rig elections. This will happen in 2022 and there is a high probability that Rs will react with violence again if they don't see the results they expected.
6. When they have a Congressional majority again they will kill the filibuster and completely fk the already messed up political system. This is when I believe we really see irreversible changes toward autocracy.
It's hard to see beyond this because we just don't know if Ds will finally see the light and if the GQP will manage to keep minority political rule going. The only hope is that the GQP suffers massive losses and finally dissolves, otherwise we will keep sliding away from democracy. The other hope is that other dictator wannabes lose like trump and at least the more developed countries purge out these anti-democratic elements. The other bright spot are younger generations not falling as much for populism. It's looking ugly out there.