President Donald Trump on Monday denied that he aspires to be a dictator.
But on the identical time, he determined to make a associated level: that lots of people actually seem to want a dictator.
“And they say … ‘He’s a dictator. He’s a dictator,’” the president mentioned of his critics. “A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we’d like a dictator.’ I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator.”
Why did Trump add this addendum? Maybe he’s being provocative. Or possibly the man who has repeatedly suggested he should have absolute power and gone to great lengths to expand his power is planting a seed that it might be a good factor – even a well-liked factor.
Who can say?
What we will say, although, is that Trump is kind of proper. Many people are more and more entertaining the concept of a dictator. They are his supporters.
They don’t essentially say, “Yes, I want a dictator.” But polling exhibits Republicans have edged in that course – to a fairly exceptional diploma.
And that’s allowed Trump to maintain poking and prodding for a broad new grant of presidential authorities with little pushback from a base that when prided itself on restricted authorities and federalism.
Perhaps essentially the most startling ballot on this got here final yr. A University of Massachusetts Amherst survey requested about Trump’s remark that he needed to be a dictator, however just for a day. Trump mentioned it was a joke, however 74% of Republicans endorsed the idea.
Okay, that was just for a day. That’s a fairly restricted type of dictatorship. And possibly some people felt they have been getting in on the “joke” by endorsing it to a pollster.
But there’s lots extra the place that got here from. When you ask such questions in additional nuanced methods, you discover that the Trump-era GOP is more and more authoritarian-curious, on the very least.
Polls usually present greater than half of Republicans say they want fewer checks on Trump’s energy, and upwards of one-third endorse some model of unchecked energy.
Let’s begin with that first half.
A Pew Research Center poll early this yr confirmed 59% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents agreed that many of the nation’s issues could possibly be higher solved “if Donald Trump didn’t have to worry so much about Congress and the courts.”
That’s a bigger quantity than two polls that requested a related query final yr, however all confirmed a majority of Republicans endorsing this sentiment. The quantity within the Pew ballot spiked to 78% amongst Republicans who recognized with the GOP “strongly.”
Saying Trump ought to face fewer hurdles, of course, isn’t the identical as saying he ought to be a dictator.
But while you dig a little deeper, you’ll discover a important quantity of Republicans endorsing that sort of energy – as many 3 or 4 in 10.
Some of essentially the most placing findings on this:
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44% of Republicans mentioned the courts shouldn’t even be allowed to evaluation Trump’s insurance policies, based on a CBS News-YouGov ballot earlier this yr.
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28% of Republicans mentioned a president ought to have the ability to ignore Congress or the Supreme Court when these establishments “hold our country back,” an Axios/PRRI ballot across the identical time confirmed.
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36% of Republicans mentioned they wouldn’t be in any respect bothered if Trump have been to “suspend some laws and constitutional provisions to go after political enemies,” a Monmouth University ballot in December confirmed. (Just 23% mentioned they might be “bothered a lot” by this; the remainder have been within the center.)
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28% of Republicans mentioned the nation wanted a president who was “willing to break some rules and laws to set things right,” per a late 2023 Fox News ballot.
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24% of Republicans mentioned forward of the 2024 election that if Trump misplaced, he ought to “do whatever it takes” to take energy, based on one other PRRI ballot.
So to sum up, round one-quarter of Republicans – or extra – have endorsed the concept of Trump seizing energy, breaking legal guidelines and violating the Constitution when mandatory, and being fully unchecked by Congress and the courts.
(And to be clear, this isn’t simply a matter of heaps of people not understanding the idea of checks and balances. When pollsters have requested these sorts of questions broadly about presidents and never Trump, Democrats have been considerably much less possible than Republicans to embrace these concepts.
So the place does this depart us with Trump’s new feedback?
They assist clarify why Republicans don’t push again on Trump’s energy grabs. In that method, the president is pointing to a very actual phenomenon.
But it’s additionally not ridiculous to assume Trump might be pointing to assist for dictators for a very particular motive: to legitimize his energy grabs. Trump often uses the “many people are saying” construct to promote ideas he likes, in spite of everything.
If many people roughly want a dictator, possibly it’s not so excessive for him to be asking for extra unchecked energy?
It’s additionally price noting the context through which Trump is lodging this. There is a rising argument in additional excessive parts of the appropriate that the nation is marching inexorably towards a extra authoritarian model of authorities. (See: Tucker Carlson last week.)
To the extent people embrace that concept, it’s not a large logical leap to assume your aspect ought to do the authoritarianism earlier than the opposite aspect can.
We’ll see if Trump retains fertilizing this seed he’s planted. All of the above exhibits how a lot that’s price taking note of.