Strongmen See the End of Their Power as an Existential Threat, and Act Accordingly
I followed all of the Jan 6. hearings closely, and provided television and other commentary, but last night’s hearing was of particular interest because it focused on Trump’s personal role in inciting violence.
It thus dealt with an issue I had advised the House Jan. 6 Committee on: the ways authoritarian-minded leaders who are desperate to remain in power act recklessly, whether it’s starting a war, staging a coup (technically, a self-coup, to keep themselves in power), or some other desperate and violent move.
Such moments display the fundamental difference of such leaders from democratic heads of state in terms of psychology, temperament, and (absence of) moral code. As I write in Strongmen:
“The authoritarian playbook has no chapter on failure. It has no pages on how to deal with becoming a national disgrace, someone who is pelted with tomatoes and eggs when he appears in public after leaving office, like Augusto Pinochet, or forced into exile, like Idi Amin. Aging, defeat, and the ebbing of virile powers are difficult for leaders whose `entire sense of self is bound up in being revered,’ in psychological profiler Jerrold Post’s words.”
Democratic heads of state often see their departures from office as an opportunity to build on their leadership legacy. The authoritarian regards the end of being adulated by followers, controlling everything and everyone, and losing immunity from prosecution as existential threats.
Trump’s frenetic activity between Nov. 2020 and Jan. 6 to avoid accepting defeat falls into this category. And only authoritarian dynamics can make sense of Jan. 6 as a leader cult rescue operation carried out by the faithful. During this period, doing Trump’s bidding to help him stay in office became the GOP's most important job --one that had lawmakers like Senator Mike Lee busy 14 hours a day, by Lee’s own admission.
Yet one “remedy” (as Lee called these attempts to save his Leader from defeat) after another proved unworkable. Too many judges refused to act in a corrupt manner, and the military would not play Trump’s martial law or coup games.
So the recourse to violence by Trump on Jan. 6 became the logical option, including a plan to take out his own vice-president for disloyalty. As the hearing demonstrated, that violence was premeditated and integral to Trump’s coup attempt. It was also “bipartisan.” It targeted Republicans and Democrats alike, because strongmen like Trump have no allegiance to anyone but themselves, as devoted elite and grassroots followers eventually realize.
I think what we saw last night is that while Trump's actions (or inactions) were the prime mover of the J6 terrorist attack, there is more than enough culpability to go around with his enablers and co-conspirators. Democracy will not be safe until they are all held to account, whether acting to overthrow the government like Giuliani, Trump, Flynn and Bannon; or acting to protect Trump like Mike Lee. The rot goes very deep in what is still benignly referred to as the Republican Party.
Hey folks, see if you can pinpoint the individual that has succumbed to relentless propaganda. Remember to use the tools: Strongmen and How Fascism Works. If you’re not diligent in learning about Fascism, you’ll become a part of it. This example is textbook. Our greatest strength is knowledge and discernment.