Authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Monday addressed the moment at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee when Republicans chanted the word “fight” soon after GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump walked into the auditorium.
The chant referenced the former president saying the word — while pumping his fist — immediately after surviving an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the weekend.
Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University and the author of “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present,” who has frequently warned of the authoritarian aspects of a potential second Trump presidency, wrote on social media: “You know what to do, Americans. We can avoid this nightmare. Never become resigned or fatalistic. That’s what they want.”
Following the attempt on Trump’s life, there have been bipartisan calls to tone down political rhetoric (which Republicans didn’t really adhere to during the first day of the convention).
Ben-Ghiat, however, commented: “The pivot delusion/propaganda point has returned! Sorry but Trump’s idea of unity is everyone behind him or else. He tells his own supporters that if they vote for him and die ‘it will be worth it.’ No pivoting out of that.”
On this subject, I recently read They Thought They Were Free last year. I keep seeing parallels that are unnerving. I fear we have already gone beyond the tipping point.