To appreciate the scope of Donald Trump’s vision, and the degree to which it’s reminiscent of authoritarian regimes, it’s important to note the Republican’s praise for foreign dictators.
Alas, this isn’t altogether new. Ahead of the 2016 elections, the then-GOP candidate was on record praising Saddam Hussein, Vladimir Putin and even China’s handling of the Tiananmen Square massacre. (Seeing images of brave Chinese democrats standing in defiance in front of tanks, Trump sided with those who ordered the tanks.)
Ahead of the 2024 elections, Trump doing it again. As regular readers know, the presumptive Republican nominee continues to make positive comments about the man who earned the “Butcher of Baghdad” label. He offers gushing admiration for Beijing’s “ruthless” control over China’s population. He struggles to contain how impressed he is with his benefactor in Moscow. He celebrates Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “because he says, ‘This is the way it’s going to be,’ and that’s the end of it. … He’s the boss.”
At a rally in New York last week, Trump again expressed his admiration for a variety of foreign dictators, including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. It was against this backdrop that the Republican sat down with podcaster Tim Pool and elaborated on his pal in Pyongyang.
Trump: My relationship with Kim Jong Un was very beautiful. We got along very well. I got along great with him. Very strong guy. He is the absolute leader of his country pic.twitter.com/k5c7GeyGx3
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) May 28, 2024
“There was certainly hostility when I first started,” the GOP candidate said, “and all of a sudden, it boiled down to something that was very beautiful, the way it happened. And I got along with him very well. … I got along great with him.”
Trump added, in reference to the North Korean dictator, “Very smart guy, very strong guy. He’s the absolute leader of that country.”
The rhetoric adds to a lengthy record. In 2018, for example, the then-American president repeatedly praised Kim, calling the dictator “open,” “honorable,” and “a pretty smart cookie.” Asked by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos whether he trusts Kim, Trump replied, “I do trust him, yeah.” (In the same interview, the then-president added, in reference to Kim, “His country does love him. His people, you see the fervor. They have a great fervor.”)
Trump’s affection for the North Korean leader reached new heights in October 2018. “We fell in love, OK? No, really,” Trump declared. “He wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters. We fell in love.” But the Republican’s praise for the dictator has often been rooted in something specific. Six years ago, Trump was asked whether Kim might someday visit the White House. Trump said it “could happen,” before adding, “Hey, he’s the head of a country, and I mean he’s the strong head. … [Kim] speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.” It was not a one-off. In 2022, Trump appeared at a GOP fundraiser and marveled at how Kim’s generals and aides “cowered” when he spoke to them. “Total control,” Trump said of the dictator’s authoritarian model. Two years later, the former president is still talking about how impressed he is with Kim serving as “the absolute leader of that country.” This keeps happening for a reason: Trump expresses public admiration for dictators, not despite their authoritarian control, but because of it.
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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