The Five Pillars of Trumpian Repression

Benjamin Wittes: “That Trump had authoritarian instincts was not in dispute among reasonable analysts. One needed only to listen to his speeches to establish that.”

“But how would his authoritarianism show up in practical governance? Would it be through invocations of the Insurrection Act or involve more exotic presidential emergency powers? Would it involve prosecuting political enemies? Would it be through domestic deployment of the military? In countless papers, op-eds, and scenario-planning exercises, scholars and journalists tried to game out what Trump would do and how his various opponents might respond.”

“Suffice it to say, two months into the second go-around, that everyone got it wrong. Or at least, nobody really got it right.”