Would Trump Subvert American Democracy by Getting His Designated Successor Elected President?

I wrote a piece a couple of weeks ago examining how Trump might “end” American democracy and concluded that this fear is unjustified, although there are obviously reasons to be alarmed by Trump’s conduct.

Jonathan Chait accused me of being willfully obtuse and not imaginative enough. For instance, I dismissed the possibility that Trump would simply remain president past January 2029. Even Chait thinks this would be “highly unlikely,” but he has another terrible scenario in mind:

If Trump did seek to hold power after one more term, he would probably do it by using a pliable figure as a stand-in. (Anybody could very easily evade the 22nd Amendment by having a family member run for office while promising to wield power behind the scenes.)

So, the threat to democracy would be that Trump would maintain enough popularity to hand-pick a successor — perhaps a family member — he could totally control, and that person would, freely and fairly, win a national election in 2028 and empower Trump behind the scenes?

To be sure, this wouldn’t be a healthy development (nor do I think it is a very likely one), but it wouldn’t be a threat to democracy. Would the further dire scenario be that this person would win election yet again in 2032?

Look, I don’t like people I oppose winning elections, either, but so long as they are winning in fairly conducted elections, it isn’t a threat to democracy.