'We burn, too': Authoritarianism expert reveals 5 ways Trump could 'wreck' the democratic state

Historian/author Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a scathing critic of President-elect Donald Trump who is known for her expertise on authoritarianism, has often noted that one of the things authoritarians do to seize or maintain control is promoting despair.

Trump opponents, Ben-Ghiat has repeatedly warned, must not give into despair — as despair is exactly what authoritarians want to promote.

Another expert on authoritarianism, author Timothy Snyder, laid out some other means of control during an interview with NJ Advance Media.

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Snyder cited five areas in which authoritarians will try to undermine a democratic state in order to increase their control: health care, national defense, law, national intelligence, and administration.

Snyder, during the interview, was highly critical of Trump's cabinet picks — including anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president-elect's choice to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Snyder told NJ Advance Media, "The foundation of modern democratic state is a healthy, long-lived population. We lived longer in the 20th Century because of hygiene and vaccinations, pioneered by scientists and physicians and then institutionalized by governments. We treat one another better when we know we have longer lives to lose."

The author told NJ Advance Media that Trump is undermining the rule of law by picking former Sen. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) for U.S. attorney general and hurting the United States' national defense by choosing Fox News' Pete Hegseth for defense secretary. And U.S. intelligence, according to Snyder, is under attack with Trump picking former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii as director of national intelligence.

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Many of Gabbard's critics consider her an apologist for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine, and pro-Kremlin, state-operated media outlets in Russia have dubbed her "Russia's girlfriend."

Snyder told NJ Advance Media, "Each appointment is part of a larger picture. Taken together, Trump's candidates constitute an attempt to wreck the American government…. If it all burns down, we burn, too."

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Read NJ Advance Media's full interview with Timothy Snyder at this link.