There is an intellectual, tactical argument to be made for electing the worst possible leaders, including and especially Trump, in any electoral contest.
There’s the socio-procedural argument that Joe Biden and the Democrats betrayed their base and the people on so many issues, returning to the old neoliberal oppressions, handing the country to foreign governments, banks, police, and Wall Street, at the expense of those who placed them in office, and betrayal must be punished, lest it lead to further betrayals.
There is also the more broad perspective of the prospects of the system itself. If a system is not serving you and ‘waiting it out’ is not an option, then it stands to reason that your goal should be to disrupt and damage that system to its breaking point. The oligarchy uses system shocks as tools and weapons repeatedly. Should their victims deny themselves this same option? Electoral politics cannot and will not save us, but, if leveraged appropriately, they could help us defeat our oppressors.
The counterargument is, of course, a moral one, that voting for such candidates would ‘feel wrong.’ That harm would come as a result. But I would suggest that the groups who would face oppression under such circumstances are already facing that oppression simply by different, supposedly ‘cleaner’ hands. Or, perhaps that figures like Trump ‘foster authoritarianism.’ But, so does the congress and the Biden White House, each and every day. There is little practical difference, except impressions.
People like Trump break systems of planned domination between states. They corrupt and destabilize the domestic state itself, forcing factions that would otherwise oppress the people to oppose these internally destabilizing gambits. Most importantly they demonstrate, openly, honestly, practically, and in real time, the hypocrisy of the neoliberal global order because they lack the knack for smooth dishonesty of their political rivals. They cultivate massive, intense anti-hierarchical sentiment.
In short, if the oligarchy is at war with itself this presents opportunities for subjects of global capital and empire. It saps resources they would ordinarily use to oppress the people. It disrupts their organizational structures and alliances. Yes there is indeed a strong strategic argument to be made for helping collapse along. The people have no use for that which does not serve them and their interests. Why deny ourselves the indirect assistance of the best monsters that power has to offer?