Legal scholar Dahlia Lithwick’s sobering comments after the Supreme Court gave Donald Trump broad immunity from prosecution have stuck with me ever since.
“As an official representative of the legal commentariat I want to suggest that tonight’s a good news cycle to talk to the fascism and authoritarianism experts,” she tweeted July 1, the day of the ruling. “This is their inning now…”
Those words came to my mind over the weekend as Trump was going viral for telling supporters that they “won’t have to vote anymore” in four years because “it’ll be fixed” — remarks that sure sounded like a clear signal that Trump is planning to end democracy if he’s elected president again.
I think sometimes people can foolishly minimize such statements from Trump as if they simply reflect a thirst for power. But I doubt we’ve ever had a presidential hopeful as eager as Trump is to fawn over authoritarians. In fact, Trump was given multiple opportunities to explain his concerning comment on Monday night but failed to do so.
So I think we should heed Lithwick’s advice and take a look at these strongman idols.
Trump has praised the likes of China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. But his party is currently enamored with some lesser-known authoritarians, too, such as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele.
And I question, sometimes, whether people know what kind of governance the MAGA movement is motioning toward with this.
And I question, sometimes, whether people know what kind of governance the MAGA movement is motioning toward with this.
Orbán has railed against “mixed-race” countries and touted his vision of an “illiberal state.” His government has consolidated control of media outlets, and his Fidesz party has used gerrymandering to seemingly draw itself into power indefinitely. The party once sought to give parents more voting power than people without children — a plan that Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, pushed in 2021.
Bukele — El Salvador’s self-proclaimed “coolest dictator in the world” — is another favorite among American conservatives. He once ordered armed soldiers into parliament to pressure lawmakers. He has waged a violent crackdown on gangs, alarming human rights observers, and used that crusade to justify censoring the press. He also stacked El Salvador’s top court, which struck down a seeming constitutional ban on consecutive presidential terms.
When you consider such actions against the backdrop of Trump’s repeated antidemocratic statements, it’s more than appropriate for us to consider how he just might try — if he wins in November — to achieve the kind of power his idols have.
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