Donald Trump managed to break new rhetorical ground this week, declaring at a Fox News town hall event in Iowa that he would not be a dictator if he returned to the White House — “except for Day One.” Offered an opportunity to explain himself, the former president suggested that he’d use dictatorial powers to “close the border” and approve increased oil drilling.
When Sean Hannity tried to help his guest, the GOP frontrunner doubled down.
“I love this guy,” Trump added, referring to the host. “He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no. Other than Day One.’ We’re closing the border, and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.”
By any chance, might Republican officials have some concerns about their likely 2024 nominee endorsing a temporary dictatorship? Evidently not. Axios reported on some of the next-day reactions from prominent GOP senators:
“Trump’s super power is that he’s the most quick witted leader in a generation. Every grown man hyperventilating about this clip needs to find a sense of humor,” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) tweeted. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who endorsed Trump this week, laughed at the clip on Fox Business and focused his response on the need for tighter border security.
When Republican Sen. Thom Tillis talked to CNN, the North Carolinian suggested Trump was right. “He said he would do two things: He would close the border and drill,” Tillis said. “Everybody could say that’s abusing power, I think that’s a righteous use of power and President Biden’s failed on it.”
Sen. Mitt Romney might seem like the sort of Republican who’d have a sensible reaction, but the Utah Republican also told CNN that the former president was merely “firing up the base” and “entertaining people.”
This need not be complicated. Trump, with little subtlety, has touted an authoritarian-style vision for the United States. Under the Republican’s preferred approach, he would seize control of government departments and agencies that have historically operated with independence, enact radical anti-immigration plans, use government powers to crack down on journalists, and hire right-wing lawyers who will be positioned to help Trump politicize federal law enforcement and exact revenge against his perceived political foes.
He’s also been quite candid about issuing pardons to politically allied criminals and labeling his opponents “vermin,” seemingly indifferent to the word’s 1930s-era antecedents.
It was against this backdrop that the former president was offered multiple opportunities to reject the idea of using dictatorial powers if given a second term, and he did the exact opposite.
At which point, Republicans shrugged. Even during Wednesday night’s GOP presidential primary debate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, trailing Trump by roughly 40 points, chided “the media” for “making a big deal” about the dictatorial rhetoric. I realize that much of the GOP is convinced that Trump won’t follow through on his most dangerous and radical ambitions, but I’d remind Republicans of an infamous quote from a party insider in mid-November 2020. “What is the downside for humoring him for this little bit of time?” a senior Republican official said as Trump pretended he won the 2020 race. The same unnamed official added, “It’s not like he’s plotting how to prevent Joe Biden from taking power on Jan. 20.” In the days and weeks that followed, Trump plotted on how to prevent Joe Biden from taking power on Jan. 20. The lesson Republicans should have learned was that “humoring him” had an unmistakable “downside.” There’s fresh evidence that either the lesson was never learned or was forgotten far too quickly.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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