This OpEd from Arnaud de Borchgrave recaps many historical and contemporary examples of why the Chief does NOT consider himself to be a worshiper at the holy alter of (small-d) democracy, at least as far as it is defined as “holding free elections”. Just because someone can gain a majority in a vote is no guarantee that the majority itself will not become tyrannical in and of itself.
Free elections, we have been told ad nauseam, lead to a healthy body politic called democracy. Unfortunately for those who see the cliché as an article of faith, free elections and democracy are not synonymous. Hitler won a free election – and went on to build the world’s most formidable war machine in history’s blink of an eye.
There’s much more, and it’s worth considering. By the way, there is nothing wrong with a democratic republic, as long as there are strong protections for minority rights and limitations to the power of the majority factions. (Example: U.S. Constitution, amendments 1-10).