Democrats, Big Media, Big Tech, Big Pharma, academia, Hollywood, and all the other radical Marxist/Leftist groups hate President Trump.  Robert DeNiro wants to punch him. Ashley Judd threatened to go “nasty woman” on him.  All those Trump haters scream that he’s an idiot, a disgrace, crass, a bore. 

However, their most politically meaningful hatred centers on the accusation that he’s an authoritarian, a fascist.  Since his June 2015 presidential announcement, turn on/read any of the Democrats’ media (NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, New York Times, Washington Post, etc.) and that accusation of authoritarianism is made daily by the likes of Joe Scarborough, Rachel Maddow, and Don Lemon.  Only two months ago, The Atlantic, a purportedly serious magazine, said Trump’s using an authoritarian playbook, whatever that means. 

They all make such accusations, giving no definition of what it means to be “an authoritarian” and using no examples.  So, what does it mean, and is Trump an authoritarian?  First, let’s look at some of history’s recent authoritarian regimes. 

When I think of an authoritarian regime I think of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Eastern Bloc countries, Cuba (under Fidel), North Korea, China, and many Middle East Islamic countries.  Those governments had (and still have) almost 100% control over all aspects of society.  Those regimes control all media (TV shows, news, newspapers, movies, radio, etc.), silence and jail all opposition, arrest political opponents, prevent protests, prevent religious worship, encourage people to rat on their neighbors, control history taught in schools, control the economy, and (more recently) control the internet.  The ideology of the state wasn’t just coming from politicians; it was the police, the media, the military, the courts, entertainment, and teachers.  To control society, an authoritarian regime must control all aspects of society, and those regimes do.  The regime demands total compliance; no dissent is tolerated.  In such regimes, the people know they’re being lied to but can’t do anything about it. 

Using the above short description, is Donald Trump an authoritarian?  Did he have political opponents arrested?  Did he control network news?  Control Big Tech?  Print media?  Academia?  Hollywood?  Sports Leagues?  Entertainment?  The courts?  The government?  Intel agencies?  Law enforcement?  After all, a true authoritarian would control all those and much, much more.  For each one of those questions, the answer was, and is, a big no.  Trump controlled nothing that an authoritarian would control.  If he did, Trump wouldn’t have allowed Big Tech to kick him off of Twitter and Facebook when they disagreed with him. 

As much as Big Tech dislikes him, so do our news networks hate him.  A 2017 Harvard study found the media to be 93% negative, 7% positive, to Trump during his first 100-days in office.  (In comparison, Obama was 60% positive.)  Similar negatives toward Trump came from schools and universities, from Hollywood and entertainment, and from sports figures (such as LeBron, Kaepernick, Stephen Curry) and ESPN. 

And as much as the private sector was against President Trump, no organization was more against and negative towards him than the federal government bureaucrats.  The IRS employee union gave 100% of its political donations to Democrats.  Even before the 2016 election, the FBI, the DOJ, the Intel Community, and the entire federal government actively supported Hillary and worked to prevent Trump’s election.  A great example was the FBI and DOJ, in July 2016, admitted that Hillary likely broke the law by mishandling classified documents but refused to prosecute her.  At the exact time the FBI was refusing to prosecute Hillary, they were colluding with her to initiate and promote the Russia collusion hoax trying to frame Trump.  The Durham Report confirms that the hoax was approved by Obama and Biden, and enforced by the media. 

What about the military?  Surely an authoritarian controls the military.  In December 2018, Trump ordered the military to withdraw from Syria but the generals foot-dragged such that there were hundreds of troops still on the ground when he left office.  Even more defiant was our top general.  Gen Milley, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, went behind Trump’s back and held secret communications with his Chinese counterpart, assuring him that he (Milley) would forewarn China should Trump decide on military action against them. 

So, if every part of the establishment, including the government bureaucracy, intel agencies, the military, the justice system, the entire media, Big Tech, entertainment, and academia were against him, how was Trump an authoritarian?  He wasn’t. 

Remember, the Left’s playbook is to accuse you of what they’re doing.  They accused President Trump of being an authoritarian because they were (and are) seeking the power of a dictator.

With all aspects of the establishment, the government, academia, media, and entertainment against Trump and demanding that you hate him; why is he so popular?  Because whether you dislike Trump or not, people realize the establishment no longer represents them.  The establishment is a group of East Coast, elite leftists who loathe Middle America.  They despise and look down upon us bumpkins.  As a result, We the People, collectively and individually, want nothing to do with anything establishment. 

The establishment cabal worships big government as the answer; I worship God, for He is the truth.  The leftist cabal supports mutilating children, calling it “gender affirmation”; we say, “leave our kids alone.”  Schools across the country are pushing drag queens (here, here, here) to school children, as young as kindergarten; we say, “Stop grooming our kids.”  The elite cabal hates fossil fuels, especially petroleum; the people love our gasoline vehicles, the bigger the better. 

Finally, the establishment absolutely hates Trump. That only makes a substantial segment of the populace love him even more.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore  CC BY-SA 2.0 license