Zack Beauchamp

Trump has openly proclaimed his interest in ruling like a dictator, not just on day one, but also admiration for things like the Tiananmen Square crackdown, already said a long time ago. And that these strategies contradict each other. So the Orban strategy depends on self and subtlety.

Trump has openly proclaimed his interest in ruling like a dictator, not just on day one, but also admiration for things like the Tiananmen Square crackdown, already said a long time ago. And that these strategies contradict each other. So the Orban strategy depends on self and subtlety.

And the Bukele strategy depends on massive, rapid, aggressive shows of force backed by the armed forces of your country.

And the Bukele strategy depends on massive, rapid, aggressive shows of force backed by the armed forces of your country.

They said America is not a democracy? Yeah, they did. But I have a lot of issues with the way that that definition is right.

They said America is not a democracy? Yeah, they did. But I have a lot of issues with the way that that definition is right.

Everybody knows that title worked. Pretty successful book. Now, I mean, on your bright line question, Ezra, they, Steve and Luke and Dan Ziblatt wrote an op-ed in the New York Times where they laid it out, I think more formally, what the criteria were, right? And the argument is you have crossed the line from a democratic state when opposition has costs.

Everybody knows that title worked. Pretty successful book. Now, I mean, on your bright line question, Ezra, they, Steve and Luke and Dan Ziblatt wrote an op-ed in the New York Times where they laid it out, I think more formally, what the criteria were, right? And the argument is you have crossed the line from a democratic state when opposition has costs.

Right, right. And that's the bright line. Now, of course, that bright line is pretty fuzzy, right? Like, if you're a conservative, you would argue that in the quote-unquote woke era, opposition to the reigning moral ideology had cost.

Right, right. And that's the bright line. Now, of course, that bright line is pretty fuzzy, right? Like, if you're a conservative, you would argue that in the quote-unquote woke era, opposition to the reigning moral ideology had cost.

Yeah, those are the examples I wish I'd brought up earlier when you were asking me about, you know, how do we know that this is what they're trying to do? Well, it's exactly things like that. That is evidence of authoritarian intents.

Yeah, those are the examples I wish I'd brought up earlier when you were asking me about, you know, how do we know that this is what they're trying to do? Well, it's exactly things like that. That is evidence of authoritarian intents.

The question, though, and the reason why I don't like the framing of we've already crossed the line into competitive authoritarianism is that that implies that those efforts are having the intended effect. And I do, Andrew, I take the caution that you're describing that we don't know how things are going to go. in, you know, a year or two or something like that.

The question, though, and the reason why I don't like the framing of we've already crossed the line into competitive authoritarianism is that that implies that those efforts are having the intended effect. And I do, Andrew, I take the caution that you're describing that we don't know how things are going to go. in, you know, a year or two or something like that.

I don't, I can't claim to know that. What I'm trying to do is make a judgment about where we're at and what we can extrapolate from sort of the current trajectory of things. And it's not just, I think, a couple of days or weeks where we've been seeing this momentum build against Trump. It's over the course of months, right?

I don't, I can't claim to know that. What I'm trying to do is make a judgment about where we're at and what we can extrapolate from sort of the current trajectory of things. And it's not just, I think, a couple of days or weeks where we've been seeing this momentum build against Trump. It's over the course of months, right?

I agree that the former parameters of American politics have been blown apart in the beginning of this administration. The question is, are they doing something to effectively consolidate a new vision for the political order, as you suggested?

I agree that the former parameters of American politics have been blown apart in the beginning of this administration. The question is, are they doing something to effectively consolidate a new vision for the political order, as you suggested?

I mean, if you look at the way of going after the media, even within that first year, Orban had developed a new state-created conglomerate for different media organizations that effectively allowed him to begin exercising power over the media in a structural way, that there's no... of that in the United States. There isn't even a concept of a plan here. There's not a tool for power consolidation.

I mean, if you look at the way of going after the media, even within that first year, Orban had developed a new state-created conglomerate for different media organizations that effectively allowed him to begin exercising power over the media in a structural way, that there's no... of that in the United States. There isn't even a concept of a plan here. There's not a tool for power consolidation.