Despotism at the Door. It’s a March to Dictatorship.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
It’s Not Backsliding. It’s a March to Dictatorship.
by William Kristol
Well, I took a week off, but the slide toward authoritarianism didn’t. To wit:
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Military leaders and intelligence professionals were purged.
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A prominent Trump critic’s home was raided.
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The Epstein coverup proceeded apace.
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A major corporation was extorted.
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Universities and the media remained under assault.
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A national museum was ordered to rewrite our history.
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The attempt at mid-decade redistricting in order to keep Republican control of the House of Representatives moved ahead.
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Mass deportation and civic intimidation continued across the nation.
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Presidential control of law enforcement in the nation’s capital intensified, with the promise that it will expand to other places.
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And vanishingly few Republican elected officials objected to any of this.
This (partial!) list leads me to correct my first sentence. For what we are seeing is not merely a “slide toward authoritarianism.” It’s a march toward despotism. And it’s a march whose pace is accelerating.
Now, nations can and do “slide” toward authoritarianism. The term “democratic backsliding” was invented to describe the difficulty new democracies have in sustaining their institutions under the pressure of a previously undemocratic history, of resisting their past authoritarian habits, of overcoming their lack of understanding or commitment to the new order.
But that’s not what we are primarily seeing here. We’re not seeing backsliding. In only seven months, we’ve seen a remarkably sustained if somewhat chaotic series of abuses and usurpations in pursuit of the object of despotism.
It’s a purposeful project, not an inadvertent one. All societies obviously have authoritarian elements. Every democracy is susceptible to the claim of a demagogue who insists, “I alone can fix it.” Every polity is susceptible to bigotry. Every public is susceptible to the lure of false promises and the fear of invented threats. It may even be that the arc of political life naturally bends towards authoritarianism.
Dealing with endemic authoritarian tendencies has always been part of the work of preserving democracy. Our failure in curbing and managing such tendencies has certainly made our society more vulnerable to despotism.
But whatever our past failures, however many authoritarian elements embedded themselves over time in our liberal democracy, the challenge we face today is closer to straight-up despotism. And the project of imposing that dictatorship is no longer much disguised, if at all. The enemies of a free society—the enemies of limited government and the rule of law, the opponents of political liberty and human equality—don’t sugarcoat what they’re doing. There’s surely no reason we should sugarcoat what we’re seeing.
And as we see the actions of Trump and his apparatchiks, does anyone think they’re going to all this trouble to accumulate power so they can willingly hand it over in 2028? Does anyone think that if the public tries to vote against them, that they will go gently into the political night? Does anyone think that, should Trump try to undermine the choice of the people in 2028, he would meet the same resistance from within the government that he met in 2020? Would Attorney General Bondi or Secretary of Defense Hegseth or Secretary of Homeland Security Noem or FBI Director Patel rebuff presidential directives and act to ensure the peaceful transfer of power?
No. They would be eager lieutenants in the subversion of our free government.
There would be resistance in the ranks. But the ranks won’t be populated with the kinds of people who were there in 2020. And there would be resistance from some states and regions. But a kind of low-grade civil war is hardly a desirable outcome. Nor is it one that will necessarily result in victory for freedom.
I’m sorry to return from my week at the beach without tidings of joy. But we ought to see things as they are and to call them as we see them. And we ought to do so in the spirit of Lincoln: “If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it.”
In one week
Military leaders and intelligence professionals were purged.
A prominent Trump critic’s home was raided.
The Epstein coverup proceeded apace.
A major corporation was extorted.
Universities and the media remained under assault.
A national museum was ordered to rewrite our history.
The attempt at mid-decade redistricting in order to keep Republican control of the House of Representatives moved ahead.
Mass deportation and civic intimidation continued across the nation.
Presidential control of law enforcement in the nation’s capital intensified, with the promise that it will expand to other places.
And vanishingly few Republican elected officials objected to any of this.
Can you imagine the right wing outrage had Obama done even ONE of these things? Holy shit.
They're already claiming he is a traitor because he didn't come out and publicly denounce the conspiracy theories about Russia hacking voting machines (I didn't even know that was a supposed leftwing theory till just recently which is how widely it was circulated, was it on the Onion?). If he were to have actually acted like Trump is now those conservative racist losers would have stormed the capital long before January 6th.
Trump has only been in office seven months and serious people are bringing up the word dictatorship, and despotism. I think it has been worse than many people truly expected.
This is only going to end with Trump ruling as a mad king, or he is impeached, or he dies in office.
You've seen him killed and impeached twice over. Better tighten your hat.
www.huffpost.com /entry/trump-chris-christie-threat_n_68abe32de4b08b3201edd109
Trump Threatens 'Sloppy' Former Pal In Off-The-Rails Sunday Night Rant
Ed Mazza 3-4 minutes 8/25/2025
President Donald Trump on Sunday night fired off a series of messages on social media attacking Senate Democrats , demanding that the Baseball Hall of Fame admit retired pitcher Roger Clemens , and mocking ABC reporter Jonathan Karl’s hair.
And, in one of his wilder posts, Trump delivered a not-so-veiled threat to onetime pal Chris Christie , the former New Jersey governor who had criticized him earlier in the day.
“Can anyone believe anything that Sloppy Chris says?” Trump wrote.
During an ABC interview, Christie accused Trump of using the Justice Department as “his personal legal representation” to carry out retribution against political opponents and critics such as former national security adviser John Bolton .
Trump seemed to make Christie’s case for him as he hinted that the former governor could soon find himself on the wrong end of a new investigation into the “Bridgegate” scandal from his time as governor.
“Do you remember the way he lied about the dangerous and deadly closure of the George Washington Bridge in order to stay out of prison,” Trump wrote. “For the sake of JUSTICE, perhaps we should start looking at that very serious situation again? NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!”
Trump was referring to a 2013 scandal in which members of Christie’s administration closed the lanes in Fort Lee leading to the George Washington Bridge to create a traffic jam, reportedly as revenge against a mayor who did not back Christie’s reelection bid.
When Christie held a press conference denying that his office had been involved, one of his own aides texted to another that he “ just flat out lied ,” according to court documents released later.
Christie was a Trump rival during the 2016 campaign, but dropped out early and became one of the first major GOP figures to endorse him.
He stayed within Trump’s orbit throughout the campaign and during his first term in office, and was a White House regular.
Pool via Getty Images
Christie helped Trump prepare for the presidential debates in both 2016 and 2020. He spent a week in an intensive care unit with COVID-19 that he developed while helping Trump in 2020, later saying it was “ inexcusable ” that he wasn’t told that Trump had tested positive for the infection and “undeniable” that he got the infection from him.
Trump called him while in the hospital, Christie said, but not entirely to check on his prognosis.
“Are you going to say you got it from me?” Trump asked him, according to Christie’s 2021 book .
Christie eventually became a Trump critic.
Trump’s full message is below:
Donald Trump
We now have millions, no tens of millions of Americans who accept this as "normal". Anyone who publicly criticizes Trump , and he hears about it, is subject to threats, personal attacks about their appearance, and lawsuits.
We are living in a diminished society.
The IQs are getting lower every year, John. They don't want to think they want someone to tell them what to do.
It's a very sad state of affairs for someone who claims to be an attorney to type out "right" for "write"
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I have no doubt about Christie's culpability in the George Washington bridge fiasco. There should have been an investigation into that years and years ago.
I like how trmp claims Christie lied about the bridge to stay out of jail. Like he didn't like to stay out of jail?
And he's got his nerve calling anyone else sloppy or criticizing their hair
Trump today:
"Many people are saying maybe we'd like a dictator."
He then went on to say "I don't like a dictator. I'm not a dictator. I'm a man with great common sense and I'm a smart person." All obvious lies.
Undoubtedly, there will be some who ridicule the grave concern about Trump's despotism. Those who do are, of course, covering for the fact that an authoritarian ruler is exactly what they want.
Trump is having trouble keeping his eyes open wide. He is not well.
nice touch
Notice with Jabba the right eye is more closed. Same with the other guy.
He needs to stop with that orange make-up. He looks older with it...and looks ridiculous
He shouldnt do closeups, he has bad skin.
Trump says he thinks we want a dictator. Is that what MAGA wants?
Is allowing Trump to become Putin, to become like China, to become like Korea, to become like other dictators, is that the Republican dream?
Trump has made it clear from the military parades, to turning the White House into a golden Saddam Hussein palace, to demanding judges always rule in his favor, to attacking several states sending in the military only in "blue states", going after anyone who criticizes him filing lawsuits or invading their homes, he wants and expects to be allowed to be a DICTATOR!
Is MAGA okay with this?
The reality on immigration is they are NOT just going after criminals and gangs.
They are repeatedly picking up U.S. Citizens, people with valid green cards following the process the right way, and even imprisoning innocent tourists from several friendly countries.
This is not normal, it's not democracy.
After Republicans backed Bush in his wars when he insisted that we should be spreading democracy. Using the excuse that by fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here and we need to push the spread of democracy around the world to eliminate more of the Saddam's and dictators, the Republican tune sure has changed.
Mass media is the only entity that can coherently oppose this. They are letting us down.
I think they do. That's what it sounds like to me from the comments I read here
Imagine that.
I guess that some people are a little bit slow to recognize what was patently clear years ago.