In March of this year, The Washington Post, still shadow-boxing with their orange-man nemesis, ran a hyperbolic analysis by politics professor Daniel Drezner entitled, "The Trump-as-authoritarian debate, reconsidered." Truthfully, given the Post's unrelenting obsession with this theme, they could fairly title at least an article a day the same thing.
But the Drezner piece in question tagged Trump as "authoritarian," "fascist," and "tyrannical," a man whose policy was "punitive," focused on punishing enemies rather than advancing any positive agenda for the country.
But this billionaire-owned, corporate newspaper that willfully threw objectivity out the window by changing its entire tag line just to take a political shot at the former president was far from the only instrument of the Democrat Media Complex to play up the authoritarian angle.
Politico said the same thing in an article entitled, "Trump is an Authoritarian, So are Millions of Americans." The author detailed how "Trump was stirring up a deep, if often dormant authoritarian strain in our politics."
New York Magazine's Jonathan Chait seconded that motion in his own article, "Trump Authoritarianism Denial Is Over Now," where he stewed how, "Even after four years of Trump abusing power, fomenting violence, and actively attempting to rig the vote while claiming any prospect of defeat must be fraudulent, his supporters denied any danger."
And there were plenty of others:
- The Atlantic instructed how "Trump Proved That Authoritarians Can Get Elected in America"
- Vox warned that "The Republican Party is embracing authoritarian politics"
- Business Insider explained "Trump's Authoritarian Attacks Are Not a Fluke, but Built Into American Politics"
- NBC News ran the think piece titled "Trump's tyranny proved America isn't immune to authoritarianism but we can survive it."
It is truly comforting to know that so many committed journalists are on high alert, guarding the masses against the terrifying specter of authoritarian overreach by those wielding executive power in this country. Particularly when there are significant examples of the current administration actually embracing authoritarian methodology in dealing with dissent:
Yet for some reason, a quick scan of NBC News, Business Insider, Vox, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, and Politico reveals precisely zero hand-wringing articles about Biden's creeping authoritarianism. Even The Washington Post doesn't seem overly concerned with the darkness they are providing for democracy to die in, as they remain silent on the concerning development. What gives?
Of course we all know.
See, it isn't that I ever had a hard time accepting or believing that Donald Trump possessed some degree of authoritarian impulse. Hardly pejorative, Trump was a business executive who cut his teeth making unilateral decisions for his company and his brand. That's the nature of the business world, and it was always logical that it would be important for the people keep Trump in check as their employee rather than their boss.
No, I never objected to those legitimate concerns raised about the consolidation of too much power or authority in the hands of Chief Executive Donald Trump. What I objected to then is the same thing I object to now – the disingenuous use of such protests by leftwing activists posing as journalists whose concern is not authoritarianism, but rather what political party the authoritarian belongs to.
