Zack Beauchamp

Yeah, so I thought about this.

Yeah, so I thought about this.

No, I thought about this objection a lot while I was working on the piece. Because, you know, Trump has never said, I'm going to be an authoritarian. He said he'd be dictator on day one, but only on day one. Just on day one.

No, I thought about this objection a lot while I was working on the piece. Because, you know, Trump has never said, I'm going to be an authoritarian. He said he'd be dictator on day one, but only on day one. Just on day one.

But Victor Orban doesn't say that. I want to seize control of the Hungarian government and make myself dictator, right? It's in the structure of modern authoritarianism when you're dealing with backsliding from democracy that they want to claim democratic bona fides. They want to be able to say, I'm still ruling on behalf of the people. Elections are still legitimate.

But Victor Orban doesn't say that. I want to seize control of the Hungarian government and make myself dictator, right? It's in the structure of modern authoritarianism when you're dealing with backsliding from democracy that they want to claim democratic bona fides. They want to be able to say, I'm still ruling on behalf of the people. Elections are still legitimate.

In fact, my legitimacy flows from my popularity. So the way that you assess whether or not backsliding is happening is you look at the cumulative intent of the different policies put together. What would the output be if these policies all succeeded, if Trump actually got what he wanted in these cases. And we can see what that would look like, right?

In fact, my legitimacy flows from my popularity. So the way that you assess whether or not backsliding is happening is you look at the cumulative intent of the different policies put together. What would the output be if these policies all succeeded, if Trump actually got what he wanted in these cases. And we can see what that would look like, right?

It would look like a series of deals like the ones that Columbia and Paul Weiss made. It would look like the courts declining to challenge him for fear that he wouldn't be obeyed, or sorry, that they wouldn't be obeyed in this case. It would look like the media self-censoring.

It would look like a series of deals like the ones that Columbia and Paul Weiss made. It would look like the courts declining to challenge him for fear that he wouldn't be obeyed, or sorry, that they wouldn't be obeyed in this case. It would look like the media self-censoring.

I mean, we're on this podcast saying that Trump is an authoritarian and none of us are afraid that Donald Trump is going to shut us down because we were on this podcast. That to me is a significant marker of failure.

I mean, we're on this podcast saying that Trump is an authoritarian and none of us are afraid that Donald Trump is going to shut us down because we were on this podcast. That to me is a significant marker of failure.

I mean... Antisemitism has since, I mean, honestly, since the existence of Christianity, been a conspiracy theory. It started with the idea that the Jews collectively killed Jesus and has become an explanatory framework for everything bad that has happened since.

I mean... Antisemitism has since, I mean, honestly, since the existence of Christianity, been a conspiracy theory. It started with the idea that the Jews collectively killed Jesus and has become an explanatory framework for everything bad that has happened since.

And in that way, it's protean because antisemitism can be adapted as an explanation for whatever bad thing you want to happen, you can blame it on the Jews. But what you can also do is reconstruct the figure of who the Jew is and what they are doing in ways that are useful for your political project.

And in that way, it's protean because antisemitism can be adapted as an explanation for whatever bad thing you want to happen, you can blame it on the Jews. But what you can also do is reconstruct the figure of who the Jew is and what they are doing in ways that are useful for your political project.

So, it also centers on an old idea, but one that Trump has explicitly appropriated, the idea of there being good Jews and bad Jews. And the good Jews are one that fit the dominant political characteristics and acceptable political characteristics at the time, right, of this area. You see this in Hungary, actually, right?

So, it also centers on an old idea, but one that Trump has explicitly appropriated, the idea of there being good Jews and bad Jews. And the good Jews are one that fit the dominant political characteristics and acceptable political characteristics at the time, right, of this area. You see this in Hungary, actually, right?

There's an Orthodox community led by Chabad that's aligned in many ways with the regime.

There's an Orthodox community led by Chabad that's aligned in many ways with the regime.