Trump Is Conditioning Americans With Authoritarian Statements

The former president does not make and repeat authoritarian statements by mistake; he does so by design

Donald Trump will be a dictator from Day One. He will seek revenge against his adversaries. He will fire civil servants not loyal to him. He will pardon insurrectionists and terminate the constitution.

Those are not my statements; they are statements made by Donald Trump himself describing his intentions, should he return to the White House. One might expect such authoritarian declarations to tank a candidate’s campaign. But Trump does not make these statements by mistake; he does so in response to questions from his closest allies in conservative media, as was the case during an interview on June 5 with Sean Hannity. He makes these statements by design.

An age-old gambit from the authoritarian playbook, the strategy behind Trump’s statements is one that worked in Nazi Germany, in the Soviet Union, and in other repressive regimes throughout history. Evil intentions are floated. Reactions are assessed. Weaknesses are exploited. Intentions are repeated. Wrongs become desensitized. Scapego…