Trump’s Dictator Warning
In a Town Hall this week, former President Donald Trump told Sean Hannity he wouldn’t be a dictator “except for Day One,” if he regains the presidency.
Some dismissed this as Trump joking – just “Trump being Trump.” But, others believe he was signaling his future plans, broader than just one day, in the same way that he signaled his supporters, urging them to be in Washington on January 6, saying, “Be there, will be wild!”
Trump has been making clear for months that if elected next November he plans an authoritarian presidency, if not a dictatorship.
And it is likely he would want to be “Dictator for Life,” like his role models – Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
From the time Trump claimed in 2016, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” Trump has demonstrated his long-held belief that the rules and norms don’t apply to him.
The multiple criminal and civil cases against Trump, particularly the Jan. 6 criminal case in Washington, DC, will determine whether Trump is held accountable for his past wrongful actions.
We have learned the hard way that we ignore Trump’s dangerous and abhorrent rhetoric at our peril.
On January 6, Trump addressed the mob he had called to Washington, sent them to the Capitol, and incited them to “fight like hell.” The mob did precisely that, ransacking the Capitol and injuring 114 police officers.
So, let’s look at a few of the dangerous statements Trump has been making.
Trump said the Constitution should be terminated in order to return him to the presidency.
Trump suggested that former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley should be executed for “treason.” General Milley did not treat it as a casual remark.
Trump has made clear that he is prepared to ignore the rule of law in order to carry out his revenge campaign.
“I am your retribution,” he told supporters in March.
Trump plans to weaponize the Justice Department and FBI to go after his opponents. For example, he recently said, “[I]f I happen to be President and I see somebody who’s doing well and beating me very badly, I say, ‘Go down and indict them.’ Mostly what that would be, you know, they would be out of business. They’d be out, they’d be out of the election.”
According to news reports, Trump has told advisers he wants the Justice Department to investigate his former Attorney General William Barr, former chief of staff John Kelly, and others who have been critical of him.
Trump is planning to “come after” other critics as well, including those in the government and media, according to one of his closest allies.
Trump continues to attack judges, prosecutors and their families, and court staff in his criminal and civil cases whenever he can. Trump knows his most aggressive supporters will follow his lead with their own threats and verbal abuse.
Trump has indicated he intends to set up detention camps for immigrants. And he plans to try to eliminate birthright citizenship despite the fact that it is protected in the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.
When you add all this up, you end up with a man that, if elected, is prepared to run roughshod over the norms of our county, over the rule of law, and over the Constitution.
Trump’s preparing to come after those who get in his way is eerily reminiscent of German Pastor Martin Niemöller’s somber warning following World War II:
Through repetition and demagoguery, Trump has normalized his treacherous behavior and dictatorial ways for too many Americans.
In the words of Judge Tanya Chutkan, who presides over Trump’s Jan. 6 election subversion case, “Presidents are not kings and [Trump] is not President.”
It bears repeating – we ignore Trump’s rhetoric and threats at our peril.
Should Trump get back to the White House, we must stand up against the authoritarian or dictatorial moves he makes. We must not sit silently by as Trump acts to destroy our democracy.
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Fred’s Weekly Note appears on Thursdays in Wertheimer’s Political Report, a Democracy 21 newsletter. Read this week’s and other recent newsletters here. And, subscribe for free here and receive your copy each week via email.
