Authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat thinks the GOP’s increasingly extreme positions can only backfire on the party.
It’s a “very scary and sad time for America,” the history professor at New York University and author of “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present” acknowledged on the latest episode of the Daily Beast podcast “The New Abnormal.”
The GOP is now an autocratic entity, hollowed out and in its “bunker stage” with its fervent support of former President Donald Trump, she argued.
But things can only go one way for Republicans, who are “so out of step with popular desires,” the academic said.
“This is why ― what Trump calls ‘The Final Battle’ ― they’re going to try no matter what to get back into the White House so they can shut down democracy, because they know that otherwise they won’t ever be able to legally win again,” Ben-Ghiat said.
“They already didn’t win the popular vote, and now being so extreme, they’ll alienate more and more Americans,” she said. “I don’t have a time frame for it. It has to happen before 2024, but we will get through this and our democracy will be strengthened as a result.”
Listen from the 43-minute mark here:
