The Hypocrisy That Gave Us a Tyrant: Why Trump Gets Away With What Would’ve Destroyed Any Democrat
By Janet Kira Lessin with Minerva
Imagine if Barack Obama had publicly suggested jailing his political opponents. Or if Hillary Clinton had said the press was “the enemy of the people.” Or if Joe Biden had disappeared immigrants into secret camps in El Salvador and Libya. Imagine the outrage—the torches and pitchforks that would’ve lined the streets. Republicans would’ve called for impeachment, imprisonment, or worse. They’d scream about tyranny, dictatorship, and treason.
But when Donald Trump does these exact things, he’s rewarded. With rallies. With cheers. With donations. With deafening silence from the same party that once wrapped itself in the Constitution.
This is how democracies die—not just through brute force, but through selective outrage and partisan blindness.
The Authoritarian Playbook, Page by Page
Trump’s behavior matches textbook authoritarianism. The same playbook used by autocrats across history:
- Control the narrative: Eliminate truth-tellers. Dismantle libraries, museums, and critical education.
- Criminalize dissent: Label protesters, journalists, and political rivals as threats to national security.
- Glorify the leader: Replace civic duty with loyalty oaths. Undermine faith in every institution but himself.
- Punish the “other”: Dehumanize immigrants, minorities, and critics. Ship them off—literally—to foreign camps.
- Seize power: Undermine elections, discredit the courts, and install loyalists.
If any Democrat took these actions, they’d be crucified on Fox News, in Congress, and in public squares. But Trump? He’s applauded for it.
Why?
The MAGA Hypocrisy: Worship, Not Citizenship
The answer is simple and chilling: this is no longer about conservative values or American principles. It’s about Trumpism—a cult of personality that has replaced civic responsibility with emotional loyalty.
When you’re in a cult, the rules change:
- Lying is fine if it protects the leader.
- Cruelty is strength if it hurts the right people.
- Laws are weapons, not guardrails.
It’s no coincidence that Trump’s enablers are now discussing internment camps, “final battles,” and biblical vengeance. This is no longer a political disagreement. This is eschatological warfare. And they’ve turned Trump into their messianic general.
America’s Founders Would’ve Revolted
Let’s be clear: if Trump had been in charge in 1776, the Founders would’ve fought him with muskets and ink. Washington didn’t serve for life. He stepped down. Jefferson and Madison built systems to limit executive power—not crown a king.
And yet Trump brags he’ll be a “dictator on day one.” MAGA cheers.
Final Thought: The Dictator Test
Here’s the logic anyone should understand:
If you’d condemn it under a Democrat—but cheer it under Trump—then you don’t love America. You love power.
And power without accountability isn’t democracy. It’s a dictatorship.
The time to choose sides isn’t coming. It’s here.
We either stand for the Constitution or kneel for the crown.
References:
- Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
- Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny
- George Orwell, 1984
- The Atlantic: [“Trump and the authoritarian threat”]
- ProPublica: [“Private contractors and the secret migrant flights”]
- NYT: [“Biden vs. Trump on immigration: stark contrasts”]
Tags:
authoritarianism, Donald Trump, dictatorship, MAGA cult, rule of law, democracy under threat, political hypocrisy, human rights violations, immigration camps, El Salvador, Libya, Orwellian America
Poem: The Crown and the Crowd
They crowned him not with laurel, but fear, A golden tongue, a jeering sneer. He vanished truth beneath his throne, and called the people’s voice his own.
But even tyrants quake in time, When justice rings like liberty’s chime. So rise, not red or blue, but free— And guard what’s left of history.
