“This is out of the autocratic playbook. As autocrats consolidate their power once they’re in office, anything that threatens their power ... becomes illegal,” historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat said.

“This is out of the autocratic playbook. As autocrats consolidate their power once they’re in office, anything that threatens their power … becomes illegal,” historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat said.

Donald Trump is ramping up his rhetoric depicting his political rivals and critics as criminals, while dropping a long trail of suggestions that he favors outlawing political speech that he deems misleading or challenges his claims to power.

In a speech Friday in Aurora, Colorado, the Republican presidential nominee blasted the immigration system and lobbed a rhetorical grenade at his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.

“She’s a criminal. She’s a criminal,” said Trump, who was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his New York hush money trial. “She really is, if you think about it.”

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  • azimir@lemmy.ml
    1·
    2 months ago

    It’s only illegal if someone enforces the law, a judge holds a trial, and an actual punishment is meted out.

    Given how little taste our justice system has for holding rich people accountable, it starts to get fuzzy around what is illegal or not. As President GW Bush said: “The Constitution is just a piece of paper.” While he’s wrong about the material, he was correct that unless people believe in the ideals and rules laid down by the Constitution, then actually build a nation who follows and enforces their ideals, the Condition just sits there as a pile of material.

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
      1·
      2 months ago

      removed

      That’s quite the euphemism… The guy was stilling in the cabinet calling out opponents and with each name, said opponent was immediately picked up out of the crowd, taken outside and shot.

      Just a few of those in, people just started throwing eachother under the bus, hoping to be spared. It was a shit show, a disgrace and a horror show that (without a doubt) trump would love to pull off, though I doubt anyone but the most extremists maga would go with THAT.

    • Catma@lemmy.world
      1·
      2 months ago

      Decades of unfiltered right wing radio declaring Democrats as literally evil and propogating the idea of Republicans being the party of God. When your rival is the embodiment of evil you cannot ever work with them or compromise with them lest you be destroyed.

    • lengau@midwest.social
      1·
      2 months ago

      So many reasons.

      Just one of these is the people who seem to think making the insignificant gesture of voting third-party as a “fuck you” to the Dems is a good idea, when all it does is increase the chance of Republicans winning.

      This goes for the presidential race and for most tight senate/house races, too. The ballot box isn’t where a coalition starts. A coalition starts by providing candidates who are actually likely to win.