Imagine if Nixon tried this during the Vietnam War.

Ofcourse America was still a functional democracy with the rule of law back then. His own party stabbed Nixon in the back when he got too crazy.

Younger v Harris was in 1971 and was about the California Criminal Syndicalism Act, which was among the most blatant statutory violations of free speech in the country's history. While the courts did not okay the law on its merits, they did create a ridiculous procedural hurdle for people being unconstitutionally tried under it. The law was only repealed in 91.

Trump is a monster and he is dismantling our legal system. But it is not the case that in the past we had a functional democracy and rule of law and now we don't. We very briefly had a glimpse of a functioning pluralism, which was never allowed to fully take root.