this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2024
51 points (91.8% liked)

US News

151 readers
1 users here now

US news only.

founded 8 months ago
MODERATORS
 

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/18473652

A former national security adviser in the Donald Trump White House has said that the ex-president “hasn’t got the brains” to helm a dictatorship, despite his admiration for such rulers.

In an interview with the conservative French outlet Le Figaro, John Bolton, 75, was asked whether Trump had tendencies that mirror dictators like the ones he has previously praised. Bolton not only disparaged Trump’s intellectual capacity, he also disparaged the former president’s professional background, exclaiming: “He’s a property developer, for God’s sake!”

Now a vocal critic of Trump, Bolton served as the former president’s national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019. Bolton had previously served as US ambassador to the UN during George W Bush’s presidency, developing a reputation as a foreign policy hawk.

Bolton’s remarks to Le Figaro suggesting Trump is not smart enough to be a dictator will almost certainly do little to allay fears on the political left at home or abroad about a second Trump presidency.

After all, Trump has suggested he plans to be a dictator, if only for the first day of his presidency if he were re-elected.

all 16 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 35 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

That isn't the issue. Once he's elected he continues the work of tearing apart US democracy until he's no longer needed and the christofascists install an actual dictator. Trump is a useful idiot.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

Exactly, he is being used as a puppet BECAUSE he is a complete moron. When he is done being useful he in the trash with Snuffleupagus.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 8 months ago (3 children)

What I'm realizing is that fascism is not strictly top down. It's also bottom up. Some people at all levels want this and will act without direct orders.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Back in WW2 the Occupied French put it this way; it isn't the big Hitler in Berlin that makes our lives miserable, it's the million little Hitlers in Paris who make us suffer.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

That's so true. It's always the little Hitlers that empowers the big one.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

It does work from the bottom down if you think about it. The small elections people don't bother with, like school board positions and such, are where the fascist Karens thrive and it's where they can do damage like fuck up your kids lives and education with their bullshit.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

I guess in a way it can be thought of as virulent ideological malevolence.

[–] eletes 15 points 8 months ago

Him not having the brains doesn't stop him from listening to Stephen Miller or project 2025 folks

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

His boss does, though

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Unfortunately the Republican Party is full of people willing to help him.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Also, Russia and other enemies of the state.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

Fascists don't care about their leader .... all they care about is grabbing power and control.

How they do it doesn't matter

Who is leading them doesn't matter

Once they have total power, they can make up whatever they want to justify anything and everything they say or do.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Meanwhile, as seeks a second term in the White House, the incumbent Joe Biden has warned that Trump – the lone remaining contender for the Republican nomination – and his allies are “determined to destroy American democracy”.

Trump recently provided fuel for that argument by hosting Hungary’s autocratic prime minister Viktor Orbán at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Trump, furthermore, is known to have lavished praise on leaders considered opposed to US democratic ideals and foreign policy interests, including North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and China’s Xi Jinping.

Bolton nonetheless claimed Trump – who is grappling with more than 80 pending criminal charges as well as multimillion-dollar civil penalties – lacks the kind of coherent political philosophy effective dictators require.

He stoked alarm at a campaign rally earlier in March when – while musing about how foreign car production affects the US auto industry – he said: “If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s going to be the least of it.

He told a rally in New Hampshire last year that he wanted to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections”.


The original article contains 751 words, the summary contains 211 words. Saved 72%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Thankyou 😊

[–] BakedGoods -1 points 8 months ago

Why is that corpse talking? People over 60 should be forced to retire and lose their right to vote.