Ruth Ben-Ghiat
@ruthbenghiat
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Authoritarians, propaganda, democracy/Historian/Consultant 🎥/Book: Strongmen, a NYT bestseller/ @caaspeakers /Substack on democracy threats ⬇️
USA
Joined December 2012
Think like an autocrat: it's what you do if your 2021 self-coup failed, and you want to make sure your next power grab is a success operationally.
🚨 Trump just seized control of Union Station, ripping it away from Amtrak and handing it to his DOT. This isn’t about fixing trains. It’s about turning D.C. into a federal fortress. First the police, then the streets, now the rails. Piece by piece, he’s occupying the capital.
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RT @SykesCharlie: “My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning t….
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RT @LarryKrasnerDA: If Donald Trump comes for Philly, I ain’t backing down. None of us should. If that means a short trip to jail, so be it….
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RT @CornellWBrooks: Mass shooting in a church mass—targeting children. Nothing could be worse—EXCEPT more inaction after more kids killed.….
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RT @GovPressOffice: ALL HAIL CHAIRMAN TRUMP! WITH HIS GLORIOUS 10% PURCHASE OF INTEL, THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF AMERICA ENTERS A BOLD NEW E….
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RT @RMGaustad: If the Nobel Peace Prize committee is looking for someone to give that award to, I think Chef José Andrés would be a perfect….
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Another genius idea from Ms Everyone's Going To Die Eventually.
Despite the $10 billion price tag, just 250 custom-built EVs have been delivered to @USPS. I am working to stop this textbook example of waste, claw back the more than $1.2 billion in unspent funds, and return them to the taxpayers.
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More Fascist behavior from Texas Republicans.
Texas Republicans have locked Democratic Rep. Nicole Collier inside the state house chamber and refuse to allow her to leave. They are requiring Democrats to sign “permission slips” and have a police escort in order to leave the chamber, and she refuses to sign it.
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As I wrote in my Jan 30 @nytimes essay, Trump long ago internalized the Kremlin view of geopolitics and sees the world in ways that further Putin's goals. So of course Putin is the "authority" he quotes on US elections.
nytimes.com
Perhaps none of President Trump’s picks for his new cabinet embody his worldview better than former Representative Tulsi Gabbard.
Trump does so much that disqualifies him from the United States Presidency. But I’m not sure how much worse it gets than using a murderous dictator who rigs elections in Russia to alibi your attempt to overturn a US election.
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RT @JayinKyiv: Excellent statement from British Ministry Defence explaining that it would take Russia another 4.4 years and over a million….
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Agree: Trump's duty as a Putin partner is to publicly legitimate Putin's goals. Heads of state have other ways of communicating but this way Trump was able to tell the world he was "going to Russia" and demonstrate his fealty.
I am a firm believer that whatever was said between Trump and Putin (whose English is good enough) privately in The Beast for several minutes without witnesses is the real reason for this whole last minute summit. And I am not so sure it was just about Ukraine.
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What, are they just figuring out now what they have signed onto?.
Peter Alexander: "What struck me was the looks on the faces of a lot of the American, delegation here. Caroline Leavitt, Steve Witkoff, who came into the room, then left quickly. Leavitt appeared to be a bit stressed out, anxious. Their eyes were wide, almost ashen at times."
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RT @MarkHertling: This afternoon, I told @NicolleDWallace that I had a sense of “dread” about what might happen in the Alaskan “summit.”. A….
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RT @ukrcancongress: A reminder that the man for whom the American Administration has rolled out the red carpet is a murderer, kidnapper of….
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Well if you share the same values it's not hard! Trump looks happy, he is performing the legitimation of Kremlin imperialism game very well so far.
Some say it's diplomacy. How can you smile & shake hands with a man guilty of the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, the deportation of children, and endless torture?.Precisely, diplomacy has no place with a criminal against humanity. It constitutes a strategic threat.
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This is designed to show the world that no American space is off limits to Putin and there are no security barriers where the Kremlin is concerned.
Host: This is extraordinary that any president or prime minister gets into Trump's car. Has anyone gone into The Beast before? This is very rare for any allied leader, let alone a former KGB leader
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Shades of 2018 but stakes way higher for Trump. A main mandate of Trump's administration is to solve Putin's problems.
Trump sitting next to Putin seemingly afraid or nervous, can't stop moving his hands and won't look or talk with Putin. Asked: "can you make the deal today sir?"
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Remember that the autocrat's idea of peace is total domination.
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