The 2024 presidential race is set as a rematch of 2020, and even though Donald Trump faces 91 federal and state felony charges, his grip on the Republican Party has never been stronger.

Nevertheless, author and political thought leader Steve Phillips believes the new American majority, consisting of people of color plus progressive whites, will prevail.

In fact, on the Lean to the Left podcast, Phillips contends that this coalition of people who want to see America become a multiracial democracy should result in Democrats keeping the White House, flipping the House, and holding the Senate, and thus defend the multiracial democracy from attacks by modern-day Confederates. 

"That's the majority of people in the country, and that majority is growing every day," says Phillips on the Lean to the Left podcast, "and that's the other aspect of what is driving Republican politics, is stoking fears around this changing composition. People can see it and they feel it in their bones that the nature of the country is going to change in terms of its racial composition.

"Phillips says the presidential elections are the closest thing America has to a national referendum, and "except for the 2004 election of Kerry versus Bush, the Democrats have won the popular vote in every single presidential election since 1992. So that further shows that the raw numbers are on the progressive side, which is why the Republicans on the right are so ferociously determined to try to suppress the vote."

So, says Phillips, the author of the new edition of his book, "How We Win the Civil War," Republicans are doing everything they can -- just as they did in the years after the original Civil War -- to prevent people of color coming out to vote because that is the only way for the white power structure to remain intact.

America already is in a second civil war, he says, adding that the January 6, 2021 MAGA attack on the U.S. Capitol was part of that. 

In “How We Win the Civil War,” Phillips analyzes the 2022 midterm elections – including why there was no Red Wave and why Stacey Abrams lost but Rev. Raphael Warnock won in Georgia, a topic he also addresses on the podcast. Democrats, he contends, must recognize that we’re in a contest between democracy and white supremacy left unresolved after the Civil War, and, he says that Trump’s entire agenda is focused on making America white again.

His work serves as a roadmap towards securing a multiracial democracy and provides a stepping stone towards ending white supremacy for good, contends Phillips. He is a New York Times bestselling author, columnist, and the author of the New York Times and Washington Post bestselling “Brown Is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority.”

Phillips also is the founder of Democracy in Color, a political media organization dedicated to race, politics, and the multicultural progressive New American Majority. He hosts “Democracy in Color with Steve Phillips,” a color-conscious podcast on politics, and is a regular columnist for The Nation and The Guardian.

The updated paperback edition of "How We Win the Civil War," published on March 12, is available at Amazon and other major booksellers.

Here are some questions we addressed with Phillips:

Q. In your new book, you warn that the Confederates never stopped fighting the Civil War, that conservatives are taking full advantage of this reality, and that those in denial imperil our democracy. Is this election more about defending and preserving than anything else?

Q. What is the way forward? How can those who want to make America a multiracial democracy prevail over those who cling to the idea that we are a fundamentally white nation?

Q. How did Trump manage to become so powerful within the Republican Party, despite his many flaws that often run counter to traditional Republican beliefs?

Q. Why would ANY person of color support Trump? We have a Black U.S. Senator – Tim Scott of South Carolina – who is one of his chief sycophants and apparently hopes to be Trump’s vice presidential running-mate.

Q. Trump is continuing his tirade against immigrants and even sabotaged what turned out to be a bipartisan immigration reform bill that would have helped end the crisis at the southern border. That’s part of his Make America White Again agenda, right?

Q. Do you believe that most Americans want to see a multiracial democracy, or do you believe that’s a pipedream?

Q. How is it that Stacy Abrams lost her bid for governor of Georgia, but Rev. Raphael Warnock won his Senate seat there?

Q. In your book, you write that modern day conservatives, and many liberals, promote the idea that Black people are poor because they lack the necessary skills, training, or character to get good jobs or run businesses that can generate wealth. Your response to that?

Q. Do you believe Democrats have been strong enough in refuting the Republican effort to overthrow the U.S. government? Why? What should they do?

Q. What would be the consequence if Trump should defeat Biden and return to the presidency?

Q. What should progressives and Democrats do to defeat Trump, hold the Senate majority and regain control of the House of Representatives?