Trump Indictment: Scholar of Fascism Says GOP Has Become an "Autocratic Party" Led by "Cult Leader"

 

Donald Trump is set to surrender today at the federal courthouse in Miami to face charges for retaining and mishandling classified documents, including top-secret information about U.S. nuclear weapons programs. Trump's supporters, including many prominent members of the Republican Party, have threatened violence and suggested revolt in response to what they see as a politically motivated targeting of the former president, while Trump himself has claimed to reporters that he is innocent of wrongdoing. His capture of the Republican base is the work of a "cult leader," argues Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an expert on fascism and authoritarianism, adding that today's GOP is an "autocratic party operating inside a democracy." Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University, also discusses the death this week of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who she says helped to mainstream far-right extremism in Italian politics.