Authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat and conservative attorney George Conway on Wednesday issued dire warnings about what to expect from President-elect Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House.
During a discussion with MSNBC’s Joy Reid, the duo cautioned about unchecked executive power while talking about the announcement from FBI Director Christopher Wray that he plans to resign before Trump’s second term begins. The move means Wray won’t face being fired by the returning POTUS who has named loyalist Kash Patel to lead the agency.
“I wish he had not done that,” said Conway of Wray’s resignation plan. Wray should have allowed himself to be fired by Trump to “illustrate how extraordinary this situation is,” the lawyer explained.
Ben-Ghiat, the author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, meanwhile, talked about witnessing a collapse of checks and balances.
“The core definition of authoritarianism is that the executive overwhelms the other branches of government and all checks on power and the situation of the president, or head of state, are removed,” she said.
“This is actually something called personalist rule. It’s a type of authoritarian where you have a very strong one person [...] and the purpose of the party and ultimately government is to solve the legal and financial and other problems of the leader. And so everybody becomes a personal tool to the leader and that’s what is happening now. Everybody is folding to his will,” she said.
Watch the full discussion here:
