In the midst of the January 6 House Select Committee hearings detailing the attempt of Donald Trump to overthrow the government, based on the lie that the 2020 election was “fraudulent,” Texas Republicans ended a three-day convention over the weekend by adopting a resolution declaring that “President Joseph Robinnette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States.”

The resolution passed “without any real debate,” the Texas Tribune reported.

In reality, Biden defeated Trump 306-222 in the Electoral College vote and by some 7 million in the popular vote. The first three hearings established that Trump was repeatedly told by top officials in his Justice Department and some members of his inner circle that there was no truth to his claims of massive voter fraud.

This, however, did not stop the largest state Republican Party in the country from affirming Trump’s lie and in the process condoning the violent attack on the Capitol. The adoption of the resolution refutes the attempt of the January 6 Select Committee and the Biden administration to suggest that Trump’s attempted coup had only marginal support, limited to a few “crazy” Republicans, while the majority of the party continues to maintain an allegiance to democratic forms of rule.

Trump’s coup had the support of a majority of the party at the time, and his ongoing preparations to install himself as president-dictator continue to have the institutional support of the Republican Party. The plot was also backed by substantial sections of the police, military and intelligence apparatus, along with elements in the media and on the Supreme Court.

In the over 17 months since the attack on the Capitol, Trump has been given carte blanche by President Joe Biden, the Democratic Party and Attorney General Merrick Garland to plot his next coup. This is because the Democratic Party fears that an exposure of the true extent of the plot would not only reveal its complicity in allowing it to happen but could also provoke a mass response from below against the entire capitalist system.

Neither Trump nor any of his high-level accomplices has been held to account, allowing the ex-president to cultivate his far-right movement and play the role of Republican kingmaker. In fascistic rallies held throughout the country, Trump has bestowed his “complete and total endorsement” to Republican politicians in the upcoming midterm elections based on their loyalty to the “stolen election” lie and to him personally. The Washington Post reported earlier this month that 108 of the 170 Republican candidates chosen for statewide or federal elections so far this year have supported Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was “stolen,” while another 41 have affirmed their commitment to “election security.”

The day after the Select Committee aired testimony from conservative Judge J. Michael Luttig, who warned that Trump and his allies are plotting to do again in 2024 what they tried and failed to do in 2020, Trump confirmed the judge’s warning with a speech to the far-right “Faith and Freedom” conference. He attacked “weak” Republicans, such as former Vice President Mike Pence, denounced the “unselect committee” and maintained that the election was stolen.

The Texas Republican Party conference, held over the same three-day period as the “Faith and Freedom” event, echoed many of the same themes. In furtherance of the “stolen election” lie, the convention featured three separate screenings of the propaganda film 2000 Mules, directed by and starring right-wing commentator and convicted felon Dinesh D’Souza.

On Friday, Texas Senator John Cornyn was booed during his speech before the convention for his involvement in a “gun control framework” with the Democratic Party that has produced nothing nearly a month after 19 children and two teachers were massacred at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Despite Cornyn’s attempts to placate the crowd by recounting all of the measures he and the Republicans have already rejected, including universal background checks, magazine bans and an assault weapons ban, he was booed relentlessly by the crowd.

On Saturday, another right-wing Texas Republican, Representative Dan Crenshaw, was aggressively threatened while walking through the convention. In social media videos, far-right operative Alex Stein of The Blaze, along with other convention attendees, are seen heckling the lawmaker. In one video, Stein films himself calling Crenshaw a “globalist RINO” and “eye-patch McCain.” The latter insult was coined by Fox News host and proponent of the fascist “Great Replacement Theory,” Tucker Carlson.

In another video, a different fascist, wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and Trump T-shirt, yells: “Dan Crenshaw is a traitor! He needs to be hung for treason!”

Along with the threats of violence, the convention saw the adoption of policies signifying the further transformation of the Republican Party into a fascistic party. What follows is a list of some of the measures adopted by the Texas Republicans in their party platform:

• Repeal of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provides for direct election of U.S. senators, instead of their selection by state legislatures;
• Full repeal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
• A 2023 referendum on whether Texas should secede;
• Repeal of all federal minimum wage laws and all local and municipal laws regarding mandatory sick/family leave;
• A plank stating that “homosexuality is an abnormal lifestyle choice.” Another plank declaring that the party opposes “all efforts to validate transgender identity.” Texas “Log Cabin Republicans,” who advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, were denied entry to the convention;
• Repeal of the 14th Amendment because of its clause guaranteeing citizenship to every person born in the US. The resolution recommends that citizenship be reserved to those who have “at least one biological parent who is a US citizen;”
• Reaffirmation of the “Wuhan Lab Leak” conspiracy theory, with calls for an investigation into the “origins” of COVID-19 in China. Entire sections of the party platform are dedicated to rejecting any public health measures to combat COVID-19, including the demand for no contact tracing; and
• Education based on “foundational standards,” such as “US and world history, including the failures of communism and socialism,” and the precept that “life begins at fertilization.”