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AMERICA'S FASCIST PRESIDENT

Expert on Authoritarian Regimes Explains How Trump Is Creating a Crisis to ‘Cling to Power’

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This week, as the economy revealed that the U.S. GDP cratered, President Donald Trump teased putting a hold on the November election. While it is unclear if the president was attempting to distract from the economy in freefall or his falling poll numbers.

Historian and expert on authoritarian regimes, Professor Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, describing the key ways to spot authoritarianism.

“Do we have any reason to believe that Mr. Trump would accept the outcome of the election?” asked the Yale professor. “The tweet of July 30th was a very clear statement, but he has literally, dozens of times before said he wouldn’t. There is nothing in his career that indicates he actually likes democracy. In this particular tweet, we have a dangerous mixture, where he’s talking about a problem he created himself, insofar as we do have problems with voting in the U.S. They have to do with things like African-Americans not being enfranchised, they have to do with the things of foreign intervention. And even the problems he mentioned, which is postal voting, which is good and of itself, that might be slowed down because of his own postmaster general. So, he’s talking about problems he caused himself, then claiming they’re an emergency, and using that as a reason to claim power himself. That’s a manufactured emergency and that is, in fact, a prime historical fascist tactic.”

He went on to explain that a fascist is someone who will often manufacture a crisis, blame it on the other side, and then use the crisis to his own benefit. In Trump’s case, vote-by-mail has become the enemy as Republicans continue to defund the post office and Republicans in several states were caught in absentee-voter crimes.

Snyder said that Trump has already manufactured his crisis and is now trying to create the solution that would best protect him and his power.

“Another element of this, which is worth paying attention to, is the way the tweet ends,” he continued. “People can console themselves by saying Mr. Trump can’t himself cancel the election. That’s true, but what he is doing, as of July 30th, is calling upon others to create a mess, so that the election won’t go through smoothly. That’s what the three question marks at the end mean. He can’t do it himself.”

As of the time Trump sent that tweet, Snyder said that anyone who continues to support Trump knows they are doing so in defiance of democratic values of America.

“As of July 30th, if you support Mr. Trump, if you’re planning on voting for Mr. Trump, if you contribute to the campaign, if you’re a delegate, you know perfectly well, this is a man who doesn’t believe he can win by the normal vote count,” said Snyder. “You know you are taking part now in a campaign which is no longer a democratic campaign, but which is something else. You know that his main task for you now is not to win an election. He’s basically conceded defeat already. His main task for you now is to find someone who can mess up the election so we can cling to power. I think that’s a big moral question where a lot of Americans should be thinking about the choices they’re about to make.”

See the full video below:

 

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AMERICA'S FASCIST PRESIDENT

‘Sadistic’ Trump Slammed for Teasing ‘Good News on Covid Relief Bill’ After Letting Millions Lose Unemployment

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3 years ago

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December 27, 2020

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Minutes after CNN published a report revealing President Donald Trump had planned to sign the coronavirus relief bill Christmas Eve at Mar-a-Lago in a big show, but changed his mind at the last minute, Trump posted a tweet teasing out “good news.”

“Good news on Covid Relief Bill. Information to follow!” the president said, ignoring the fact that by not signing the bill by midnight Saturday, 12-14 million Americans will be kicked off their extended unemployment insurance benefits.

Many on social media were aghast, especially since Trump has not only been missing in action during months of negotiations on the legislation, but he’s been golfing the past few days knowing literally millions were desperately hoping he would help them. Many Americans are literally starving, unemployed, and facing eviction and loss of basic services.

Americans have enough enough of the billionaire president who has descended into fascistic attacks on the U.S. elections system now that he will be a one-term president.

UPDATE: 7:32 PM ET –
Trump has not said anything else, but here’s CNN’s Keith Boykin weighing in on a Washington Post update:

 

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AMERICA'S FASCIST PRESIDENT

Trump Hasn’t Fired FBI Director Chris Wray Yet Because WH Counsel ‘Strongly’ Warned It Could Put Him in Legal Jeopardy

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3 years ago

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December 16, 2020

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With barely more than a month left in his job it looks like President Donald Trump might not fire FBI Director Chris Wray before he leaves office. Trump for months has been wanting to, according to several reports, especially after Wray in September disputed the president’s false claims of voter fraud.

Trump “has come so close to firing FBI Director Christopher Wray in recent months that the White House counsel’s office has warned him not to do so because it could put him in potential legal jeopardy,” NBC News reports, citing two officials.

Lawyers in the White House Counsel’s office “strongly” advised Trump against firing Director Wray “out of concern that doing so would risk creating the perception that a ‘loyalty test’ was being imposed on a position that traditionally has maintained independence from the White House.”

Trump had already fired former FBI Director Jim Comey less than four months into his presidency. He also fired Andrew McCabe, who had served as acting FBI Director until Wray was sworn in, just 26 hours before he was to retire in 2018.

Trump may still fire Wray “on a whim,” NBC notes, and adds “officials said they are prepared for Trump to go on a firing spree before leaving office next month.”

That official warned to expect “some more fairly significant terminations in the national security or intelligence community.”

Many expected Trump to fire Attorney General Bill Barr, who resigned, some believe under pressure, on Monday. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf has also been rumored to be the target of Trump’s anger, with the president wanting to fire him after he fired his cybersecurity director Chris Krebs for announcing the 2020 election was the most secure in history.

And “CIA Director Gina Haspel was so convinced she might be fired that she was seen cleaning personal items out of her office at CIA headquarters last month after Trump ousted Defense Secretary Mark Esper,” NBC News adds.

 

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AMERICA'S FASCIST PRESIDENT

Concern Grows as Trump Repeatedly Calls for Election to Be ‘Overturned’ – and Republicans Refuse to Stop Him

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3 years ago

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December 9, 2020

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More than five weeks after Election Day, concern is mounting as President Donald Trump not only shows no signs of conceding, but increasingly is spreading dangerous lies and disinformation – including now repeatedly calling for the election to be overturned. Americans are growing increasingly concerned, not only with the President’s attacks on democracy, but with Republicans’ refusal to defend it.

President Donald Trump and his supporters have filed more than 50 lawsuits, losing all but one. On Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court – on which the president placed three of the six conservative justices – unanimously smacked down the latest attempt to overturn the election, in what amounted to a scathing, one sentence refusal.

Trump is growing more agitated, according to reports, and spends his days focusing on little except the election.

Wednesday morning, amid a flurry of tweets, Trump posted a one-word demand:

That was followed Wednesday afternoon by another call to overturn the election he lost by more than 8 million votes.

A growing question for some is at what point does being a liar and a sore loser rise to the bar of illegal activity?

To be clear, not only is there no evidence of election fraud or cheating, but Trump’s own attorneys have been unable – or unwilling – to offer any in court.

Voting rights experts and Mother Jones journalist Ari Berman:

Andrea Mitchell quoting MSNBC’s Kelly O’Donnell:

Edward-Isaac Dovere, staff writer at The Atlantic:

Los Angeles Times White House reporter Chris Megerian:

The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent:

Mother Jones’ D.C. bureau chief David Corn:

CNN global affairs analyst Susan Glasser:

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