“This is out of the autocratic playbook. As autocrats consolidate their power once they’re in office, anything that threatens their power … becomes illegal,” historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat said.

Donald Trump is ramping up his rhetoric depicting his political rivals and critics as criminals, while dropping a long trail of suggestions that he favors outlawing political speech that he deems misleading or challenges his claims to power.

In a speech Friday in Aurora, Colorado, the Republican presidential nominee blasted the immigration system and lobbed a rhetorical grenade at his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.

“She’s a criminal. She’s a criminal,” said Trump, who was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his New York hush money trial. “She really is, if you think about it.”


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  • Samvega
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    3 hours ago

    Maybe because other people that you punish unjustly as part of your fantasy world fucking exist and feel pain?

    It is perfectly possible for some people to not care about this, as is discussed in psychological literature. It is also perfectly possible for some people to only extend care towards their ingroup, as they discuss as part of discussions of their own political preferences.

    • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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      32 minutes ago

      You were asking why someone should prefer reality over fantasy land and I answered that.

      I also covered that I understood that asshole nihilists and hedonists exist, so I’m not sure why that had to be retreaded.