Authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat , in the latest edition of her Lucid email newsletter , examined how both former President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin often publicly humiliate even their allies to retain control.

Recent examples include the four-times-indicted Trumps onstage mockery of Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and Putins mid-interview taunting of former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson .

These two episodes introduce us to a favorite strongman sport: ritual humiliation, wrote Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University and the author of the 2021 book Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present.