Despite disparagement from John Bolton, critics maintain Trump is clear threat to democracy, given admiration for dictators

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/18473652

A former national security adviser in the Donald Trump White House has said that the ex-president “hasn’t got the brains” to helm a dictatorship, despite his admiration for such rulers.

In an interview with the conservative French outlet Le Figaro, John Bolton, 75, was asked whether Trump had tendencies that mirror dictators like the ones he has previously praised. Bolton not only disparaged Trump’s intellectual capacity, he also disparaged the former president’s professional background, exclaiming: “He’s a property developer, for God’s sake!”

Now a vocal critic of Trump, Bolton served as the former president’s national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019. Bolton had previously served as US ambassador to the UN during George W Bush’s presidency, developing a reputation as a foreign policy hawk.

Bolton’s remarks to Le Figaro suggesting Trump is not smart enough to be a dictator will almost certainly do little to allay fears on the political left at home or abroad about a second Trump presidency.

After all, Trump has suggested he plans to be a dictator, if only for the first day of his presidency if he were re-elected.

  • Maple Engineer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    35·
    9 months ago

    That isn’t the issue. Once he’s elected he continues the work of tearing apart US democracy until he’s no longer needed and the christofascists install an actual dictator. Trump is a useful idiot.

    • snekerpimp@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      9 months ago

      Exactly, he is being used as a puppet BECAUSE he is a complete moron. When he is done being useful he in the trash with Snuffleupagus.

  • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.caEnglish
    19·
    9 months ago

    What I’m realizing is that fascism is not strictly top down. It’s also bottom up. Some people at all levels want this and will act without direct orders.

    • Dagwood222@lemm.eeEnglish
      16·
      9 months ago

      Back in WW2 the Occupied French put it this way; it isn’t the big Hitler in Berlin that makes our lives miserable, it’s the million little Hitlers in Paris who make us suffer.

    • LostWon@lemmy.caEnglish
      3·
      9 months ago

      I guess in a way it can be thought of as virulent ideological malevolence.

  • eletes@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    15·
    9 months ago

    Him not having the brains doesn’t stop him from listening to Stephen Miller or project 2025 folks

  • IninewCrow@lemmy.caEnglish
    4·
    9 months ago

    Fascists don’t care about their leader … all they care about is grabbing power and control.

    How they do it doesn’t matter

    Who is leading them doesn’t matter

    Once they have total power, they can make up whatever they want to justify anything and everything they say or do.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    3·
    9 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Meanwhile, as seeks a second term in the White House, the incumbent Joe Biden has warned that Trump – the lone remaining contender for the Republican nomination – and his allies are “determined to destroy American democracy”.

    Trump recently provided fuel for that argument by hosting Hungary’s autocratic prime minister Viktor Orbán at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

    Trump, furthermore, is known to have lavished praise on leaders considered opposed to US democratic ideals and foreign policy interests, including North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and China’s Xi Jinping.

    Bolton nonetheless claimed Trump – who is grappling with more than 80 pending criminal charges as well as multimillion-dollar civil penalties – lacks the kind of coherent political philosophy effective dictators require.

    He stoked alarm at a campaign rally earlier in March when – while musing about how foreign car production affects the US auto industry – he said: “If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s going to be the least of it.

    He told a rally in New Hampshire last year that he wanted to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections”.

    The original article contains 751 words, the summary contains 211 words. Saved 72%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!