Heather Cox Richardson Warns America Is Running Out of Time to Save Democracy
Photo Credit (c) Mimsy Moller
Heather Cox Richardson, the Boston College historian and author of the bestselling Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, has issued her starkest warning yet: American democracy is being dismantled in plain sight—and fast. In a compelling new interview with Michael Zeldin for the “That Said” podcast, Richardson lays bare the coordinated assault on democratic institutions, the manipulation of language, and a chilling campaign to control citizen data.
Richardson, whose Letter from an American newsletter is widely followed for its daily clarity and urgency, asserts that the re-elected Trump administration—backed by media manipulation and unchecked digital surveillance—is enacting what she calls the “implementation of the destruction of democracy.”
As Richardson explains in her interview with Michael Zeldin, language and media ecosystems have become central battlefields in the erosion of democracy. “The construction of a false world was enormously effective,” she notes, emphasizing how alternative media platforms—from right-wing YouTubers to lifestyle podcasts—are now key players in political persuasion. The consequence for communication professionals is clear: traditional messaging channels no longer dominate public opinion. Influence now comes from everywhere—and often from voices far outside the mainstream.
Moreover, Richardson’s alarm over the unchecked aggregation of citizen data—particularly by figures like Elon Musk in unofficial roles—signals a new era where control over narratives and access to information may be governed by opaque actors. For corporate, agency, and institutional communicators, this raises urgent questions: Are your audiences still reachable? Who controls the platforms you’re using? Is the data you rely on ethical, secure, and trusted?
Her insights also underscore a moral dimension to the communicator’s role. As language is weaponized to label, dehumanize, and divide, professionals in PR and media must ask: Are we upholding truth or laundering propaganda? Are we building community—or deepening silos of disinformation?
Richardson’s takeaway is not just a political one—it is a professional call to action. Communicators must become defenders of democratic norms, builders of shared reality, and stewards of ethical influence. “Agency is everything,” she says. And that includes yours.
Among the most disturbing revelations, Richardson highlights the role of the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” allegedly run by Elon Musk, in quietly collecting vast amounts of personal data from federal agencies—including immigration, Social Security, and even health records. According to Richardson, “The Department of Government Efficiency is scraping all of our data to be able to sort us and then use that data in potentially harmful ways.” She points to plans to create a national database of Americans diagnosed with autism, comparing it to tactics used by authoritarian regimes to target vulnerable populations.
Richardson warns this infrastructure of surveillance and disinformation is being built in tandem with the hollowing out of other American institutions—from public universities to the Interior Department, which may be privatized and sold off to benefit oligarchic interests.
But her message is not without hope. The story of American democracy, she insists, has always depended on ordinary people who decide they’ve had enough. She believes that time has come again.
“Americans thought democracy was going to be fine because it had always been here,” she says. “Things are now not getting done, and they’re going to get worse before they get better. But we need to articulate what we want and start putting in place those people who know how to build what comes next.”
For communicators, the message is unmistakable: we are not observers. We are participants in a war over truth, memory, and meaning. The tools we wield—words, visuals, stories, strategy—are the very ones authoritarianism seeks to corrupt or suppress.
