How Close Are We to Authoritarianism Under Donald Trump | The Frank Figliuzzi Show w/ Ruth Ben-Ghiat

What are the signs of authoritarianism and how deep might we be in Donald Trump's second term? Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author and historian, has made a career of identifying and documenting the impact fascism and authoritarianism has on a society and joins Frank Figliuzzi to explain those elements. 00:00 Intro 01:09 Why Ruth Ben-Ghiat studies authoritarianism 04:30 Mussolini vs modern authoritarianism 05:29 How elections are manipulated today 06:11 The leader cult and why it never changes 07:35 The “man of the people” myth 08:22 Trump and personality cult dynamics 09:00 When people finally start waking up 10:55 Why collapse isn’t always required 12:23 Propaganda and controlling reality 14:08 Creating enemies and targeting groups 16:03 Religion and the authoritarian bargain 19:03 How leaders choose loyalists 21:01 Why nothing is off-limits for strongmen 23:20 Propaganda requires silence 24:26 Religion, power, and political alliances 30:30 Authoritarian thinking and control 32:13 How fascists handled the church 37:48 Protect Democracy organization 39:40 Free speech and closing remarks #Trump #Authoritarianism #Democracy #Politics #Fascism