In 2016, an anonymous author described the battle between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as the “Flight 93 election.” In dark, urgent terms, the article argued that a Hillary Clinton victory would change America so irrevocably that conservatives needed to think of themselves as the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11—the passengers who chose to bring down the plane to save the U.S. Capitol from al-Qaeda hijackers. …
That doomsaying author, Michael Anton, ultimately joined Trump’s White House in a senior post on the National Security Council. And four years later, the president has convened what can only be described as the Flight 93 convention.
Though multiple segments during this week’s GOP gathering have tried to soften the president’s image, the convention’s apocalyptic rhetoric and repeated warnings about Democrats have loudly echoed Anton’s conservative call to arms. CONT.
Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic