The 'out of step' GOP has entered the 'bunker stage' — but there's hope: authoritarian expert

Despite facing four criminal prosecutions, former President Donald Trump has maintained a stranglehold on the 2024 GOP presidential primary. A Wall Street Journal poll conducted August 24-30 shows Trump leading second-place candidate Ron DeSantis by 46 percent among Republican primary voters.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of the book "Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present" and a professor at New York University, has been warning that Trump has all the characteristics of an authoritarian. And during an early September appearance on The Daily Beast's "New Abnormal" podcast, she stressed that the GOP, thanks to Trump, has entered a "bunker stage" and will only grow more dangerous as the 2024 election draws closer.

Ben-Ghiat told the Beast, "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."

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The Trumpified GOP, according to Ben-Ghiat, has become increasingly "out of step with popular desires."

"They already didn't win the popular vote, and now, being so extreme, they'll alienate more and more Americans," the author/professor told the Beast. "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."

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Listen to The Daily Beast's Ruth Ben-Ghiat interview at this link or here (subscription required).