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Rep. Emanuel Cleaver Makes Author Debut With Political Thriller

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In this June 27, 2018 file photo, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., asks a question during a committee meeting in Washington. Cleaver is one of two U.S. House Representatives allegedly threatened by a Marionville, Missouri, man.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
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AP
In this June 27, 2018 file photo, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., is in a committee meeting in Washington. The congressman drew on his knowledge of the capital for his first foray into writing fiction.

In "American Coup," Cleaver imagines the United States in the not-too-distant future with a president who has some familiar characteristics.

Rep. Emanual Cleaver began writing his novel more than three years ago to alleviate boredom on a train ride from D.C. to New York. "The more I wrote the more fun I was having" creating scenarios based on what was happening in Washington, D.C., Cleaver said.

Was Cleaver imagining what a second term of a Trump presidency could look like? "I think it's looking ahead at the possibility of what can happen if we elect an out-of-control president," he responded. "We slipped awfully close to damaging our democracy during the last days of the Trump administration... I think there is a danger."

The congressman also commented on President Biden's infrastructure initiatives.

"He wants the American public to understand that big things can still happen in government," Cleaver said. "What he is doing will compare, futuristically, with what was done in the FDR administration."

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