Running on ‘Stop the Steal,’ the GOP goes all in on presidential sedevacantism

Which brings us to the parallel phenomenon I call American Civil Sedevacantism, or ACS: belief in the illegitimacy of the president of the United States. Unlike American Civil Religion, or ACR — the agglomeration of sacred national places, rites and texts that serve to unify the country — the ACS is decidedly partisan.  Its origins go back almost as far as Catholic sedevacantism — to the Watergate era, when bumper stickers with “Don’t Blame Me, I’m From Massachusetts” began appearing on Democrats’ cars from the only state in the Union that chose George McGovern over Richard Nixon in the 1972 election. Nixon’s illegitimacy was, of course, proved by the evidence of his complicity in the Watergate cover-up and his resignation in the face of impending impeachment.

Running on ‘Stop the Steal,’ the GOP goes all in on presidential sedevacantism