Exposing Trump speech for signs of a dictator-led America.

What to look for as Trump spews lies and despair in 2022...

This week Trump issued several statements all designed to make Americans not believe in traditional institutions such as the Congress or the press as related to ceremonies commemorating the tragedy of the January 6 insurrection.

In a lengthy one issued Friday following the ceremonies, Trump played to his grievance-focused base, casting Democrats and the media as a sinister force that had “driven our country into the ground.”  

Here are Trump’s statements as taken from a report in the Jan. 7 The Hill, a Washington news publication.

Statement 1: “These radical leftists in Washington care NOTHING for American Democracy,” Trump said. “All they care about is control over you, and wealth and riches for themselves”…while they and the “media are driving our country into the ground.”

Statement 2: “But they are failing. No one believes them anymore.”  

Statement 3: “And the day is quickly coming when they will be overwhelmingly voted out of power.”

Throughout 2022, Trump’s words will become a drumbeat for the midterm elections. So it’s important to possess the tools to translate “Trump speech” and understand the game he’ll be playing. Trump’s tropes are all for the purpose of deflating hope, trust, and respect for the constructs of a free society and for stoking belief in the authoritarian politics he represents. 

The most helpful thing to do when listening to or reading Trump is to approach his uttering with the understanding that he speaks in a language straight out of the authoritarian playbook.
https://protectdemocracy.org/the-authoritarian-playbook/

Authoritarians must disparage everything free societies value–checks and balances on authority, a free press to shine a light on government abuses, and the expertise of governmental or independent entities whose purpose is to work in truth-based environments where facts are pre-eminent.  Dictators neither like truth nor facts, as they challenge one-man rule.

Lastly, dictators will always be about depressing hope–that life can some day return to normal or that the dictator will eventually no longer be in power. Dictators must convince audiences that such hopeful thoughts are a fool's errand.  The fix will always be in, and so will he or people just like him.

So, let’s dissect Trump’s statement from Friday for clues of Trump’s dictator mindset. In doing so, it’s easy to admire Trump’s ability to lie as easily as breathing. It’s a gift, an evil one, but a talent not everyone possesses.
Thank God.

But we also see his comments as those of an unprincipled man taking his cues from despots down through the ages–and probably, from his multiple calls and meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin while Trump was president, all on our dime.

First statement:  Trump’s casting the “media establishment” as a sinister force that has “driven our country into the ground.”
Translation of Trump’s “dictatorese”:  Authoritarian leaders cannot abide an independent news media because it can expose their abuses of power. That’s why a free press is always the first to be destroyed and outlawed in authoritarian societies as it was in Nazi Germany, Stalin’s U.S.S.R., and
Putin’s Russia.  

Also, notice how Trump gives no evidence of “how the media establishment has driven our country to the ground.” Dictators do not believe in facts to back up their statements, as they do not respect the need for their audience to make decisions based on factual truth.

So they make grandiose statements and trust listeners or readers will be gullible enough to believe them on their face, or not care whether they’re factual or not. Which many Trump followers do not.“They’ll swallow anything,” is where Trump and his dictator ilk are coming from.  So if you like to be dismissed as non-important, vote for Trump.

Also, The Resistant Grandmother wonders how, if Trump’s contention is accurate—that the media is driving America into the ground—the United States ever became the most powerful nation on earth with the inclusion of a free press protected by the First Amendment? Absent a free press, history shows the genius in a society that’s cultivated by such freedoms will die out along with the freedom to speak, write, and report the truth. But with a free press, societies likely will sparkle and flourish, as has ours.

Second Statement: “These radical leftists in Washington care NOTHING for American Democracy,” Trump said. “All they care about is control over you, and wealth and riches for themselves.”

Translation of Trump’s “dictatorese”:  The first dictator “tell”--the use of all caps. That’s a no-no in emails and texting because it mimics a kind of screaming at your audience.  Dictators like to scream.

Additionally, dictators thrive on trashing other governmental or independent entities that can challenge their authority. Ergo, Trump demeans the ceremonies marking the insurrection and the people who care about it as a way to minimize the importance of the Democratic Congress, the body that challenged Trump throughout his presidency; the electoral vote count after the insurrection which secured Biden’s victory; and Mike Pence, the toady vice president who drew a line in the sand and did the right thing on Jan. 6.  Any person or entity that challenges a dictator’s total control and power is, by definition, an enemy and must be demeaned.

By extension, if the GOP wins back both houses of Congress and Trump again were president, he would likely render the legislative branch impotent. In a scenario where Kevin McCarthy were House Speaker, Trump could not allow him to function independently, as that would offer too strong a challenge to Trump’s absolute power. Such friction reportedly was factored into Paul Ryan’s decision to leave the job.

Mitch McConnell has earned a more independent stance through his years on the job and track-record. But if he were to be replaced with someone else, such as Ted Cruz, the errand-boy expectations would apply to him, too.

A subservient stance is not in keeping with the independent nature of the U.S. Congress as a separate branch of government—an expectation in free societies that construct governance systems with a checks and balances component. But it would likely become the new normal if both or either of the Legislative branch houses were to fall into the hands of Trump’s GOP.

Also, dictators are ironic, even though they may not be smart enough to know what irony is, let alone if they’re using it. Trump’s accusations, “They don’t care about democracy” and “All they care about is control over you, and wealth and riches for themselves,” are ironic on their face because the truth is just the opposite—it is Trump of course who wants to destroy democracy and cares only about control, wealth, and riches. 

Dictators will often falsely claim others are doing what they’re actually doing. The result: a despot’s accusing others of what are, in fact, his own transgressions muddies up the topic. It makes listeners so confused they won’t pay much attention to either claim, rendering criticism directed at
him, moot.

And we know that it is Trump who is all about control, as dictators are, as he famously controlled, or tried to, every aspect of the Executive branch, including its vaunted agencies (DOJ, CDC, EPA, etc.). Trump’s iron grip prevented them from speaking the truth to the American people, destroying public trust during his tenure–just what dictators want. 

And Trump’s nonstop acquisition of wealth and riches continued full-throttle, even as president as he made money from using or trying to use his properties around the globe for governmental purposes. (See stories on Trump’s expensive but largely vacant Scottish golf club housing military personnel at the taxpayer’s expense and his unsuccessful attempt to use his otherwise failing Doral golf resort for the G-7, the in-person version of which was eventually cancelled, helpfully, because of Covid).

Third Statement: “But they are failing. No one believes them anymore,” he added. “And the day is quickly coming when they will be overwhelmingly voted out of power.”

Translation of Trump’s “dictatorese”: This is Trump’s attempt to deflate hope in anyone who opposes him.  The message is, it’s useless to believe you may prevent me and my people from taking over the government.  We will defeat you, pure and simple.  

This reminds me of a close-to-home example of “Oh, Ye who hath hope need not enter here!” approach to deflate the opposition.  On its face the following example may seem insignificant, but it’s reflective of the deflate-hope strategy on any scale.

During the 2020 campaign season, residents of my suburban Illinois town posted “vote for Biden” yard signs up and down the block. The Trump organization at night sent people to steal the yard signs, so the suddenly empty front yards greeted us one morning as if to say, “You are up against a more powerful force than your own that will not allow for either your yard signs or your intention of voting for anyone other than Trump to exist.”

But the GOP must have been disappointed when, to a person, each resident replaced the Biden signs, in some cases, several times, until Trump’s thugs finally gave up.  They gave up. Remember, Trump defeats can happen, as occurred, importantly, in 2020 on November 3.

Bottom line: Whatever Trump says must be translated within the context of the dictator’s playbook.  Authoritarian leaders must destroy hope that anything can change or that an opposition can prevail. That also goes for their need to trash any respect for people, entities, or institutions who/that can challenge their authority.  Getting you to lose confidence in yourself, organizations, or other people except him keeps the dictator in power.