My colleague Ben Collins over at NBC News made an astute point on Monday’s episode of “The ReidOut,” linking the Republican Party’s embrace of authoritarians worldwide — such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Argentine President Javier Milei — to the conservative movement’s infatuation with hypermasculine bullies in Donald Trump’s mold.
This week, Republicans reportedly met with Orbán allies to hear their pitch on why the U.S. should no longer support Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russia’s invasion. (Read some of my previous posts on the GOP’s love for Orbán here, here and here.)
On Monday’s show, Joy noted Sunday’s audio chat on X that included the platform’s owner, Elon Musk, as well as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson, misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Collins said the right’s love for illiberal men in charge has coincided with a power shift in the conservative movement.
Collins said the right’s love for illiberal men in charge has coincided with a power shift in the conservative movement.
“It’s the American global far right that’s been building on the internet since about 2014, 2015 — [since] Gamergate, basically,” Collins said, referring to the online harassment campaign designed to dissuade women and minorities from participating in video game culture.
Since then, Collins said, showing some sort of “strongman prowess through bullying and intimidation” has essentially been “the entire point of this group.” He continued:
The power structure actually is with Elon Musk, and with Tucker Carlson, and Alex Jones, and Matt Gaetz, and Jack Posobiec, and Vivek Ramaswamy. Those are the people — those are the real power centers of the American Republican Party.
Collins then explained how American conservatives are looking to model Hungary’s illiberalism:
I think the No. 1 thing that I think people should know about this — whether you agree with them about rolling back American trans rights or gay rights, or if you for some reason decide that your speech rights are fine to give up — democracy right now over there under Viktor Orbán’s leadership is not really doable. He says he’s gonna be their leader for the next 10 years, plus. That’s what he wants to be. He made constitutional amendments to make it harder to vote for opposition parties. He essentially squelched the free press over there, which Tucker Carlson, by the way — in opposite world over there — viewed as more free press. So that’s the model. The model that you keep hearing in those spaces is ‘We’re not a democracy; we’re a constitutional republic.’ And what does that mean? They’re gonna try — once they get into power — to never, ever relinquish it.
Joy also welcomed Harvard government professor Steven Levitsky, who made the argument that the danger posed by Trump — and, by extension, his supporters — far exceeds the threats posed by other authoritarians.
“Donald Trump has been much more openly authoritarian — particularly in the run-up to the 2024 election — than any of these guys,” said Levitsky, name-checking Orbán, Milei, Turkish President Recep Erdoğan and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Levitsky added: “None of these guys openly promised to lock up their opponents and to go after the media. … Trump has been the most openly authoritarian candidate in a competitive election that I’ve seen since the end of World War II.”
Watch the clip below, and beware of the mad men of MAGA ahead of next year’s presidential election. They may look to foreign authoritarians for inspiration — but an American version could be even more cruel.
"Trump has been the most openly authoritarian candidate in a competitive election that I have seen since the end of World War II."
— The ReidOut (@thereidout) December 12, 2023
Professor of Government at Harvard University Steven Levitsky #TheReidOut pic.twitter.com/i8qytZfYG6
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.