Trump is telling us he wants to be a dictator--Believe Him. And his base couldn't be happier.

MAGA could not be happier

Donald Trump can say or do anything he wants--from attempting a coup to inciting the Jan 6 terrorist attack to his declaration Tuesday night on Fox news that--if he wins in 2024--he will be a dictator on “Day one.” The more important question is how does the GOP base respond to this conduct? Their response is what defines them as a party. And alarmingly, what are seeing over and over is that today’s GOP is a full-blown fascist moment.

Trump has been charged with numerous felonies for his attempted coup in both federal and state court.  Yet the GOP base loves him. Trump has vowed to pardon the Jan 6 terrorists but go after the police who arrested them. Yet the GOP base loves him.  He has channeled Hitler by calling political opponents’ “vermin” and vowing to imprison them. Yet the GOP base loves him.  Last month, a Colorado judge ruled after a trial that Trump “engaged in an insurrection” as defined by Section 3 of the 14^th Amendment.  Yet the GOP base loves him.

And on Tuesday night, the GOP base again showed us who they are. This happened when Sean Hannity--doing all he could during his Fox News town hall to help Trump—begged him to deny that he would ever abuse his power if he returned to office. That is when Trump’s Fox News BFF asked:  “Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?”

Trump responded by raising the idea of being a dictator—despite Hannity not using the word. Trump first pretended to be Hannity asking the question: “You’re not gonna be a dictator, are you?’” Then Trump responded to the question: “I said, ‘No, no, no, other than day one.’ We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator, ok?”

What was the response of the Trump loving crowd at the Town Hall? They cheered.

Let me ask you a simple question and please give it some honest reflection: Do you believe that MAGA would not gleefully support Trump becoming a dictator?!  

In reality, we already have the answer. They are supporting a man who is facing numerous felony charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election to remain in power despite losing. Perhaps even more alarming, is that nearly 60% of the GOP base—per a CBS poll--views the Jan 6 attack not as terrorism or an insurrection, but as an act “Defending Freedom.”

They love Trump as he openly vows retribution and revenge, literally channeling Hitler and Mussolini in speech last month where he called his political opponents “vermin” who he will “root out.”

Add to that, in his CPAC speech earlier this year Trump told the crowd: “I am your warrior. I am your justice.” He then added, “And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution.” Trump then painted his fellow countrymen and women as the true threat to the nation, telling thr cheering crowd: “We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communists. We will throw off the political class that hates our country.” Building to a crescendo, he then went after RINOs and Biden, finally bellowing, “We will liberate America from these villains and scoundrels once and for all.”

Yet Hannity at the Town Hall Tuesday tried to gaslight viewers by saying to Trump you don’t want “retribution” against anyone, you simply want to go “back to the policies when you were president.”

Trump’s “Day One dictator” comment comes just two days after he shared a Washington Post article on social media that warned, “A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending." Trump shared that article--which paints a portrait of a dangerously ruthless and all-powerful Trump--because he knows his supporters love the idea.  They are on board—if not excited—at the prospect of Trump as dictator. After all, what better way to “own the libs” then by ending democracy and make Trump king?!

The latest concern the corporate media is finally covering is that if Trump wins in 2024, he will not leave office when his term is up. We heard that Monday from Liz Cheney on the Today show when asked would try to remain in power after a second term. Cheney responded, “Absolutely. He's already done it once." She added, “He's already attempted to seize power, and he was stopped, thankfully, and for the good of the nation and the republic."

This is a point I’ve been making for months in my articles and even when I was on C-SPAN in early November when I repeatedly challenged Heritage Foundation lawyer, Hans von Spakovsky to tell us if his organization would oppose Trump seeking a third term in violation of the 22^nd Amendment. I asked that given my concern that the Heritage Foundation lawyer had taken the position in our debate that Trump was not barred by the 14^th Amendment for engaging in an insurrection. At first von Spakovsky refused to answer, but as you can see from the exchange, I later pressed him on the issue until he committed to opposing Trump seeking a third term.

Obviously, though, hypocrisy is celebrated on the right so if Trump really did come to power, I would not be surprised if the Heritage Foundation flip flopped to support Trump remaining in office beyond a second term. But I called him out on the issue to raise red flags for voters.

These are truly dangerous times for our democratic Republic. Never in our nation’s history have been confronted with one of the two major political parties embracing fascism—and I say that not hyperbolically, but based on how experts define fascism. MAGA—which runs the GOP—checks all the boxes for a modern day fascist movement from embracing violence with their support of Trump’s Jan 6 attack, showing blind loyalty to their “infallible leader,” pitting people against each other to gin up anger and even the use of projection by accusing their political opponents of being the true threat to democracy.

As of today, we are 335 days until the November 5, 2024, election. And if Trump wins, we may be 335 days from our nation’s last election. That is truly where we are.

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