Are Trump’s most blatant authoritarian moves backfiring?
The president’s methods, from ‘flooding the zone’ with scandals to prioritizing loyalty over competence, could ultimately weaken rather than strengthen him
TL;DR
- Trump's authoritarian moves are debated as signs of strength or desperation, but they create both consolidation of power and vulnerabilities.
- Modern aspiring autocrats, unlike past ones, often employ 'spin dictatorships' that fake democracy, with violence kept in reserve, a tactic Viktor Orbán mastered.
- Trump's modus operandi involves doing illegal things to create faits accomplis, hoping for impunity, and 'flooding the zone' with scandals to overwhelm public attention.
- The trade-off between loyalty and competence in Trump's administration leads to egregious incompetence and terrible outcomes, creating vulnerabilities.
- Trumpists have made a spectacle of cruelty, which may consolidate power and please a base, but creates images that can be used against them and is unpopular with the public at large.
- The shameless corruption under Trump lacks a coherent system of self-enrichment, indicating weakness and a belief that their rule may not last.