It's Just a Jump to the Left and A Few Thousand Steps to the Right
There are several divergence points occurring in the period between 2000 and 2010. Most of them involve the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger going better, to the point that 2007 sees a larger 'draft Schwarzenegger' movement and push to repeal the natural-born citizen clause. It doesn't gain enough traction in time for 2008, but it ultimately gets passed and ratified in 2011, just in time for the next election. And, well, you'll see what happens...
Barack Obama/Joe Biden 2009-2013
2008: Def. John McCain/Haley Barbour
Arnold Schwarzenegger/Tim Pawlenty 2013-2017
2012: Def. Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Ron Paul/Gary Johnson
Schwarzenegger's victory in 2012 was heralded by many Republicans as the second coming of Ronald Reagan. The parallels were obvious-an actor turned governor of California managed to beat an incumbent Democratic president who had faced a foreign policy catastrophe in the form of terrorist attacks following the failed targetted killing of Osama Bin Laden in 2011. On foreign policy he largely echoed Reagan, favoring 'peace through strength' and using military force when he deemed it necessary, as he did in Syria after the usage of chemical weapons. However, overall, Schwarzenegger quickly would prove to be far from the second coming of Reagan. His moderate views put him at odds with Tea Party Republicans in Congress and he clashed with members of his own party more than with the Democrats at times. His efforts to implement a carbon tax failed, his veto of an Obamacare repeal was overturned and his social moderation earned him scorn from his party's base. Economically, he pursued mild tax cuts and deregulation and trimmed certain wasteful programs. However, having been elected on the back of outrage from hardcore conservatives, he became a lame duck even though the GOP managed to win the Senate and hold the House in 2014. In 2015, Texas Senator Ted Cruz launched a primary challenge to Schwarzenegger and, while he narrowly was held back, it was clear 2016 would not end favorably for Schwarzenegger. He handled his loss with dignity, but it was a loss all the same.
Al Franken/Kirstin Gillibrand 2017-2021
2016: Def. Arnold Schwarzenegger/Tim Pawlenty
Franken would be the nation's first Jewish president, elected alongside the first female vice president. Franken had managed to surprise political commentators by defeating presumed frontrunner Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. Franken campaigned as a staunch progressive, but would face gridlock from the still-GOP controlled Congress. Indeed, Franken's victory gave renewed vigor to the more radical elements of the right, as more paranoid sorts saw the triumph of this 'Jewish socialist' as a threat to the country. Hate crimes against Jews would increase somewhat under his administration and his efforts to push gun control to deal with the problem consistently fell through. Franken would nearly be assassinated in 2018, but luckily escaped with his life. This assassination attempt is theorized to have been why Franken managed to weather being accused of sexual misconduct without resigning (though Vice President Gillibrand nearly did so, only agreeing to stay on until the end of Franken's term). Franken's hopes of implementing new progressive policies such as liberalizing immigration, raising the minimum wage and implementing Medicare for All failed to materielize. He did manage to pass criminal justice reform, but overall was seen as clearly vulnerable in 2020.
Milo Yiannopoulos/Tom Cotton 2021-2029
2020: Def. Al Franken/Hillary Clinton, Mark Zuckerberg/Howard Schultz
2024: Def. Andrew Cuomo/Krysten Sinema
British by birth, Yiannopoulos had moved to the United States in 2011 and become an American citizen in 2013, meeting the new requirements to run for president by a single year. Yiannopoulos, while he had been elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 representing California's 48th district, was more prominent for his role as a provocateur who spoke on college campuses. Feminism, the Hands Up movement against police brutality, social justice and Islam were just some of the things Yiannopoulos, in his career speaking on campuses, had likened to cancer. He ran in the 2020 election on a nationalist platform, often featuring winks and nods to elements of the far-right, wedding anti-Islamic stances and nativist tendencies (despite his own British background) with more moderate stances on drugs and gay rights and a hawkish foreign policy. Yiannopoulos' victory in the 2020 primaries largely was only possible due to continual vote-splitting and the fact that older Republicans largely were only aware of the hostility his views engendered on college campuses rather than details about his personal life (polling showed that support for Yiannopoulos among Republican primary voters dropped five points when all voters were made aware of his sexual orientation). Nevertheless, Yiannopoulos managed to narrowly win the Republican nomination and proceeded to go on the warpath against 'failing Franken.' A number of Yiannopoulos' attacks on Franken were clearly rooted in anti-Semitic tropes, including notions of Franken being part of a cabal with George Soros and several prominent Jewish actors (which Yiannopoulos maintained was a coincidence). Ultimately, Yiannopoulos would win the 2020 election. His subsequent presidency would prove to be rather chaotic. On the good side, the economy generally did well, relations with Russia improved and same-sex marriage rights were solidified. On the other hand, income inequality grew, immigration detention facilities could justifiably be compared to Guantanomo Bay, mainstream Muslim organizations such as CAIR were desginated as terrorist groups, NATO came perilously close to unraveling, hate crimes against Jews and Muslims went up by 200%, a terrifyingly high proportion of White House staff had to be fired after they were discovered to be neo-Nazis and government prosecution of journalists in the US went up significantly. Far-left individuals would also frequently riot following controversial Yiannopoulos policies being announced, as well as immediately following his victories. 2028 however would prove to be different.
Kanye West/Tulsi Gabbard 2029-2033
2028: Def. Tom Cotton/Nikki Haley
A former rapper, West had chosen to run for Senator in California in 2024 following the retirement of Diane Feinstein. West ran on a largely centrist platform when it came to economy, wedding more healthcare coverage and a higher minimum wage with tax cuts, free trade and replacing most welfare with UBI. West however outmaneuvered his opponents by emphasizing anti-racist policies such as criminal justice and immigration reform as well as foreign policy dovishness. Much of the Democratic Party loathed Yiannopoulos' military policies (by 2027, Afghanistan had de facto become owned by Blackwater and the US Navy had sunk several boats carrying migrants to Europe). West called for noninterventionism and it resonated enough for him to beat Vice President Cotton. However his presidency quickly became fraught with controversy. He outdid Yiannopoulos in terms of tax cuts for the rich and outright lied about elements of his healthcare plan. More concerning was his “bromance” with Kim Jong Un, Narenda Modi and Vladimir Putin whom he said had “dragon energy.” Over the course of his administration signs implicating West (through his in-laws in the Kardashian-Jenner family) had coordinated with China to win cropped up. Illegal donations from foreign government were also discovered. West avoided being charged with any crimes due to his insulation from what happened but come 2032 the GOP would come roaring back with a vengeance.
Charlie Kirk/CJ Pearson 2033-2041
2032: Def. Kanye West/Tulsi Gabbard
2036: Def. Glenn Jacobs/Justin Amash, Dwayne Johnson/Elise Stefanik, Stephen Miller/Ann Coulter
Kirk marked the transition of the United States from a democratic republic to an authoritarian state. Trouncing West in the 2032 election, Kirk entered Washington with a massive mandate for the GOP. Kirk used that opportunity to push for several constitutional amendments. By 2034, Kirk and his allies in the House, Senate and State Legislature had outlawed abortion nationwide and redefined the 14th Amendment to exclude the children of illegal immigrants. They additionally had banned immigration from Middle Eastern countries in the name of counterterrorism, withdrawn from the UN and repealed most economic regulations (with the exception of tariffs on imports). However the worst was yet to come. Kirk had ordered the FBI and Justice Department to investigate West and key members of his administration for their dalliance with foreign nations. In 2034, days before the election, the FBI would indict the entire administration's cabinet. While West himself managed to avoid punishment, Vice President Gabbard and several cabinet members would be investigated for treason, tried and convicted. Kirk would commute the sentences of most of the offenders but used their guilt to push a new series of amendments referred to colloquially as "the Anti-Communist Amendments" by both supporters and detractors. These amendments, narrowly passed in 2035, outlawed all political parties advocating communism or socialism as defined by the Kirk administration. This included the Democratic Party along with several minor fringe parties. Despite protests across the nation, the amendments would pass in time for 2036. Kirk won in a landslide in 2036 as he only faced opposition from the center-right in the form of Florida Governor Dwayne Johnson (who came in second in the popular vote but third electorally and earned most former Democrats' votes), the Libertarian Party and the hard-right America First Party (which was accused by some Republicans of being a socialist party but managed to survive due to Miller's argument the party was merely economically nationalist). Kirk would bomb North Korea in his second term following the reignition of hostilities between the two Koreas and launched a series of deadly air strikes on Iran following their testing of a nuclear weapon, causing the country's government to collapse. Many Republicans tried to push a repeal of the 22nd Amendment and managed to pass it in 2040, but Kirk ultimately declined to run again. His second term would end bloodily, as far-left terrorism skyrocketed due to the lack of legal outlets for left-of-center views and far-right mobs would retaliate with what to many seemed to be modern-day lynchings. Kirk would try to ensure order by unleashing the National Guard on rioters and protestors alike, but largely seemed dismissive of the impending crises.
Justin Amash/Eric Brakey 2041-2045
2040: Def. Candace Owens/Ben Shapiro, Stefen Molyneaux/Jack Posobiec, Dwayne Johnson/Erin Stewart
The first Libertarian elected president, Amash won the most polarizing election in history (even taking into account 2036 occurred after one half of the two-party system had been banned). Amash had come in third in the popular vote behind both Johnson and Molyneaux (the failure to address far-left terrorism by Kirk had pushed his party into 4th place), but had won 270 electoral votes anyway. Amash thus was widely unpopular even before taking office. He would form a de facto alliance with the New Whig Party formed by Johnson as a result of certain shared principles-namely opposition to the Anti-Communism Amendments. Amash's popularity increased as he added Johnson, Stewart and other New Whigs (including former Democrats) to his cabinet alongside fellow Libertarians like Thomas Massie and Austin Petersen. However, his presidency would soon begin to go south. The economy dipped into a severe recession in 2042 and Amash's hands-off economic approach failed to deal with the fallout of this recession. Far-right mobs affiliated with the America First Party began launching a small-scale insurgency, outraged at the fact a "secret Muslim" was now in charge of the country. Far-left groups continued to commit acts of terrorism, bolstering Republican and America Firster claims that the Anti-Communist Amendments had to stay in effect. Amash after the midterms was constrained by a GOP-America First coalition in both houses. His attempt to form a unity ticket with the New Whigs in 2044 failed following Vice President Brakey's outraged reveal of this event and subsequent attempted primary challenge. While it failed, Amash was compelled to keep Brakey on the ticket, condemning him to defeat in 2044.
Dylann Roof/James Allsup 2045-2047
2044: Def. Justin Amash/Eric Brakey, Steven Crowder/Matt Gaetz, Dan Crenshaw/Will Hurd
While the AFP had always possessed a strong undercurrent of white identitarianism, Roof ran on an explicitly white nationalist platform endorsing making the USA into a white ethnostate. Roof only won about 21% of the popular vote, but that was all it took to win the electoral college in 2044. Upon taking office, Roof attempted to appoint a number of white nationalists to his cabinet, including Richard Spencer, Jason Kessler and Jared Taylor. However, Congress voted down these appointees (with even some AFP members choosing to reject the explicit ethnonationalism of Roof). This angered Roof a great deal and he encouraged his supporters to target outspoken opponents for assassination-several of whom, such as Johnson, Amash, Shapiro and Hurd, would ultimately end up dead. In 2046, Roof attempted to get as many ethnonationalists elected to Congress as possible. Instead, however, the voters angrily rejected Roof, with the AFP almost completely being wiped out electorally. An enraged Roof denounced the results as tainted by fraud and attempted to arrest several of the victors on the way to Congress. However, the Capitol Hill Police turned away Roof's Secret Service agents and Congress began drawing up articles of impeachment. However, unfortunately for them and the world at large, Roof had never been particularly inclined to compromise. He thus ordered a large-scale nuclear strike on multiple nations, including China, India, Israel and most of Europe (though he spared Russia due to his racialist views). This provoked a worldwide nuclear exchange and, within 36 hours, the world population dropped from 8 billion to 5 billion. Roof himself would be killed in the exchange and he took the government down with him.
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