Supreme Court justice's stunning premonition of Trump era: 'How Roman Republic fell'

Long before President Donald Trump ran for his first term in office, conservative Supreme Court Justice David Souter appeared to glimpse the future in a stunning warning of how democracy could die.

The judge, who retired from the High Court in 2009, died last week at the age of 85. However, His 2012 comments were recalled in a New York Times column Monday by Adam Liptak.

“One person will come forward and say, ‘Give me total power, and I will solve this problem,’” Souter said while speaking at an open forum at a New Hampshire Arts Center.

Liptak said Souter was usually the opposite of excitable, but when asked, “What should schools be doing to produce civically engaged students?” The Judge grew “animated."

He recalled his own high school days, saying, “There were two required civics courses. When we got out of high school, we may not have known a lot, but we at least had a basic understanding of the structure of American government.”

“I’ll start with the bottom line,” Souter said. “I don’t believe there is any problem of American politics and American public life which is more significant today than the pervasive civic ignorance of the Constitution of the United States and the structure of government.”

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According to Liptak, “Souter said he was worried that public ignorance about how the American government works would allow an authoritarian leader to emerge and claim total power.”

“That is the way democracy dies,” Souter said. “An ignorant people can never remain a free people. Democracy cannot survive too much ignorance.”

“That is how the Roman Republic fell,” he added.

Liptak noted, “Augustus became an autocratic emperor by promising to restore old values.”

Justice Souter warned, “The day will come when somebody will come forward, and we, and the government will, in effect, say: ‘Take the ball and run with it. Do what you have to do.’”

The remarks, from 2012, were made during an hour-long interview with Margaret Warner of “PBS NewsHour.”