Trump’s attacks endanger US democracy

Trump’s attacks endanger US democracy

Since the start of his second presidency, Donald Trump has often launched outlandish conspiratorial attacks on critics and foes that mock them and label their views as hoaxes, prompting scholars and legal experts to say Trump’s attacks endanger US freedoms, public health, and science, reports The Guardian.

Trump’s extensive use of conspiracy theories is the hallmark of an authoritarian leader that has weakened trust in the coming midterm elections, dangerously ignored scientific evidence, and often pushed for prosecutions of his political enemies in ways that seriously erode civil liberties, say critics.

Trump’s conspiratorial and authoritarian-style tactics are palpable say critics, in his false claim that the US faces a “crisis of election security” to bolster his radical push for new curbs on voting rights, and his labeling of climate change as a “hoax” despite extensive scientific evidence that it’s a reality.

To some scholars, Trump-backed conspiratorial claims have had a damaging impact on all levels of US society and democracy. They are emblematic of how authoritarian leaders use conspiracies to justify repression.

Steven Levitsky, a Harvard professor of government and co-author of How Democracies Die, said, “Conspiracies are page one of the repressive playbook,” noting that Mao, Stalin, Putin, and other authoritarian leaders have historically attacked enemies by spreading conspiracies.