Summary
Republican lawmakers who have condemned Putin hesitate to criticize Trump’s recent pro-Russia stance.
Trump falsely blamed Ukraine for the war, called President Zelenskyy a “dictator,” and demanded Ukraine surrender rare earth minerals in exchange for U.S. aid.
While some GOP officials reaffirmed support for Ukraine, they avoided directly challenging Trump. Meanwhile, Trump’s administration negotiated a Russia-Ukraine peace deal without initially including Ukraine.
Zelenskyy rejected Trump’s minerals demand, warning of dangerous precedents.
I personallybelieve the US was always some sort of corporate authoritarianism. Democrats that spoke against the corporate status quo often got shoved aside.
But now more than ever we have entered a naked Authorian Era of single party rule. The penalty of going against an authoritarian ruler is literal career suicide so they have to toe the party line. Even if they’re against it.
And the opposition party? It doesn’t exist, the democratic party was never an opposition party and they enabled a lot of what is happening now for reasons I just mentioned.
A Conversation With Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/podcasts/america-path-authoritarianism-democracy-trump