Are you confusing what is democratic with what is supporting democracy? Democracy is just a system of government. A democratic country can nuke another democratic country and still be democratic. We could say they are not supporting democracy in other countries, but that’s not what anyone is talking about here.
I would tend to agree with this approach. And if defederation is used, I wonder if it would be a good idea to defederate for a set period of time until a set date where the defederation will be reevaluated. I think everyone needs an off-ramp for their behavior to change, and that communicates that we’re open to interacting as long as they do so in a way that respectfully meets our code of conduct.