Authoritarianism Expert Warns Why It's Critical To Listen To Trump's Words Right Now

Authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat warned on Wednesday that when Donald Trump talks about obliterating and then politicizing the civil service, and seizing control of every aspect of government if he wins the White House in 2024, he really means it.

Nobody is ever prepared for an authoritarian takeover of their country, Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University and author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, told MSNBC s Ali Velshi.

They think they are going to be the exception. They dont listen to the warning signs until its too late, she continued.

But Trump is actually being very clear with what he is saying, said Ben-Ghiat.

Last week, a New York Times article said Trump would seek to expand presidential authority over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House.

Ben-Ghiat cautioned: Authoritarians always tell you what they are going to do as a kind of challenge and as a warning, and people dont listen until its too late.

If Trump wins election again, he will be finishing the job that he started, and by the way thats not just destroying democracy internally, she added. His other main aim was to take America out of the realm of democratic internationalism and align it with autocracies. That will happen as well.

Watch the interview here:

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