I agree with the thrust of your comment, but I think it's an overstatement to say the US was ever a democracy.
Our country is an imperial power that was built ontop of a genocide, by slaves, to support white male property owners. It was always designed as an oligarchy with features like the electoral college to make sure the will of the people could never compete with the will of the powerful. Policy outcomes haven't reflected public opinion on any major issues since the 70s.
I'd say what's going on is moving from a broad oligarchy to a narrower more centralized oligarchy. Which is still moving in the wrong direction and will definitely make life worse for most Americans.