"The Republican embrace of 'Real America' talk has hardened from political rhetoric into ideological principle."

"The Republican embrace of 'Real America' talk has hardened from political rhetoric into ideological principle."

Writes Adam Serwer in the Atlantic, putting a phrase in quotes without having quoted any Republican who has used it. I think the term is Serwer's — coined to describe a type of GOP rhetoric he is (supposedly) hearing. The quote marks are confusing! The article is confusing too unless you just accept that what he says he's hearing is really what Republicans are saying. Serwer presents this as the "hardened... political rhetoric" of the GOP:

Those who are not Real Americans cannot legitimately wield power or criticize those who do, and therefore no effort to deprive those who are not Real Americans of power can be illegitimate. Nationalism, by definition, draws lines around who belongs and who does not; the core of Trumpist nationalism is the claim that the minority of voters who support the president are the only ones empowered to shape the direction of the country, and the only ones who can confer legitimacy on the U.S. government. The president’s supporters have begun arguing not only that the constitutional process of impeachment is illegitimate, but that Trump losing reelection would be a “coup.”

I think you could reverse engineer that into a statement of the thought processes that prevail on the anti-Trump Serwer's side:

The anti-Trumpers have a hardened political rhetoric in which they engage in "Elite America"* talk. In this view, those who are not Elite Americans cannot legitimately wield power or criticize those who do, and therefore no effort to deprive those who are not Elite Americans of power can be illegitimate. Elitism, by definition, draws lines around who belongs and who does not; the core of anti-Trumpist elitism is the claim that those who lost in the Electoral College system are nevertheless empowered to shape the direction of the country, and the only ones who can confer legitimacy on the U.S. government. The president’s antagonists regard the Electoral College system as illegitimate and they feel justified in carrying out a coup.

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* I'm putting "Elite Americans" in quotes not because it's what the Elite Americans call themselves, but to imitate Serwer.

https://althouse.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-republican-embrace-of-real-america.html