All the signs are there: there’s a good chance Donald Trump will become the 47th President of the United States. But Democrats will drag this country through hell before they give up power to former president.

Whether the Democratic powers-that-be like it or not, they are likely stuck with running President Joe Biden again in 2024. Vice President Kamala Harris is a walking disaster, as incompetent as she is unlikable — and therefore a totally unsuitable replacement. But to oust Biden and seek to install anyone else would exacerbate bitter divisions within the Democratic Party. The activist base is now far more concerned with race than class, as they were when Bernie Sanders first rose to prominence. After twice seeing the party wrest the nomination from Bernie, the activist left will no longer blindly accept any new candidate they are told to — especially if it is a white man like Gov. Gavin Newsom, even if he is a more practical choice than Harris.

The Democrats painted themselves into a corner by empowering the base’s diversity demands. Now, they will in all likelihood be forced to run an increasingly unpopular Biden against a steamroller of a Trump campaign.

The way things look now, a betting man would put his money on Trump. For years thought to be unbreakable, Trump has smashed through his polling ceiling. Almost every major poll in recent months shows him with substantial lead over Biden, who struggles with languishing poll numbers. Underwater on virtually every metric polled and facing widespread concern over his age and mounting pressure from his left flank on Israel, Biden is perhaps the worst candidate in the history of American presidential elections.

Yet given the Democratic party’s iron grip on media, culture, and corporate America, Biden’s weaknesses aren’t as damning as they should be. Once again, they will mobilize these forces against Trump to such a degree that it really does pose a threat to democracy.

In 2020, three tactics propelled Biden to victory. Under the guise of COVID, Democrats — often through executive fiat — completely re-structured how voting works in America and an army of progressive attorneys assured the changes held up in court. Election day turned to election month(s), as more Americans voted by mail than ever before.

Invariably described as an effort to “expand voter access” or “fight voter suppression,”  this was no attempt to stimulate a more vibrant democracy. It was a cynical ploy to harvest votes from low-information voters who would not usually bother to cast a vote.

Having made voting virtually effortless, media propaganda made it thoughtless as well. The media framed the election as a battle between good and evil. A years-long disinformation campaign to characterize all of Trump’s policies–as well as anyone who supported those policies–as xenophobic and fascistic convinced millions that a “good person” could only possibly vote one way. Major companies and social media all reinforced this messaging through their virtue signaling and de-platforming. Every power center in America united to reinforce the idea that there was only one legitimate candidate.

For any holdouts, a summer of rolling race riots came just in time to beat them into submission— sometimes literally. Democrats pushed the lie of systemic racism, providing moral justification for the riots while police around the country came under immense pressure to stand down. The violence and destruction in the 2020 “Summer of Love” was an implicitly state-sanctioned campaign to show the country was ungovernable under Trump.

Combined, all of this created a massive structural advantage for Biden. Democrats solidified control over electoral procedures and made themselves the arbiters of legitimacy. The cost? Severe damage to trust in our elections, a loss of credibility among all our leading institutions, and a vicious polarization that has still yet to abate. More than ever, Democrats feel they have a right to rule.

But if you think this was bad, buckle up for 2024. Biden is already planning to make saving “democracy” the crux of his campaign. But this time, there won’t just be a “Summer of Love” —  there will be an entire year of election-induced panic.

After years of Jan. 6 propaganda, the base envisions itself fighting back a Nazi insurgency, while establishment apparatchiks rightly fear retribution under a new Trump administration.  The hysteria from Democrats and the media, as well as the pressure on corporate America to toe the party line, will be turned up to an 11. Violence is certainly not out of the question; a wild animal is most dangerous when it’s cornered. Expect more third world-style prosecutions of Trump World allies if the Trump’s show trials do not have their intended impact. Everywhere you work, study, travel, shop and dine will be ready to tell you you are a terrible person if you even consider voting for Trump.

Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg. With both self-interest and ideological concerns aligned, there’s no telling what they would — or wouldn’t — do to keep Trump out of office.