Ruth Ben-Ghiat @ruthbenghiat Twitter profile | Pikagi

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

@ruthbenghiat

231,155

Followers

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Authoritarians, fascism, propaganda, democracy/ruthbenghiat.com/Prof. History, NYU/Consultant 🎥/Book: Strongmen/ @caaspeakers /Substack on democracy threats ⬇️

USA

https://t.co/US8zVFkxbU

Joined December 2012

Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.

Pinned Tweet

@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

3 years

Some Personal News: Today I'm launching Lucid, a newsletter about abuses of power and how to counter them. It provides clear analysis about the consequences of democratic erosion, and the costs of disinformation and corruption in government, boardrooms, and institutions. 1/

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@steeze_q

@rlpjmxx

@heathersmith222

@kitajin96298383

@Rodrygoat_

@Viniciuinho

@TheLoyalSons

@Waleadeur

@cnn_co_jp

@AyrUnitedFC

@officialgdb1

@sseracom

@_soobing

@wacchoichoi

@MajorHeckt

@zelenskyos

@canders_daniels

@yototo_ff

@aspenpharma

@babybaldhead

@heyimlils

@MatRollinger

@XXX_Labs

@Juggernaut

@1chan_meijin

@WhitbyFire

@lze7w

@thefepodcast

@FAFGuatemala

@CSWUSoccerClub

@MrHustvedt

@stw_pdg

@Altebainawi

@WellingParkFC

@klmatmnnoor

@bensalem_owen

@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

3 years

Historian of coups and right-wing authoritarians here. If there are not severe consequences for every lawmaker & Trump govt official who backed this, every member of the Capitol Police who collaborated with them, this "strategy of disruption" will escalate in 2021

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 years

The coordinated Republican absence from #SOTU is symbolic of their exit from American democracy, with all of its rituals and norms. They are no longer invested in bipartisanship or respect for the presidency. Jan. 6 showed their idea of politics.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

5 years

Some time ago I warned that the Trump admin might move from targeting illegal immigrants to green card holders to naturalized American citizens to US born citizens with the “wrong” immigrant parents. His tweet telling members of Congress to “go home” suggests this progression.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 month

Wake up people. This is an emergency. This is what authoritarian thugs and terrorists do. Trump is targeting the President of the United States.

@patriottakes

PatriotTakes 🇺🇸

1 month

Trump Posts Image of Joe Biden Kidnapped And Bound With Rope Trump signals approval of violent imagery targeting his political opponents

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 years

Let me be clearer: stop retweeting Trump. I have seen his damage control Buffalo tweet 60 times already today. Paraphrase, refute, but stop amplifying his vile words and lies. He has enough supporters who happily do that job.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

Republican Trump-bashing is satisfying, and Trump should be expelled from politics and put in jail. However I hope it's clear to all that Republicans are turning on Trump because he has become an obstacle to establishing autocratic rule. None disavow J6 or his other crimes.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 years

This is how corruption works. The campaign is a front for keeping the Trump Org afloat.

@Fahrenthold

David Fahrenthold

4 years

In just two days, @realdonaldtrump ’s campaign pumped $380K into Trump’s private business, in 43 separate payments. Trump Org says this was for a weeklong “donor retreat,” held in early March at Mar-a-Lago. Campaign donations turned into private revenue for POTUS

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 years

Um people who study authoritarians? Mussolini did it in 3.

@JoanPennnative

Joan McGinnis☮ Woke

@JoanPennnative

4 years

Who would have believed a nation could be dismantled in less than 4 years?

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

7 months

The purpose of the military (Tuberville) and diplomatic (Paul) obstructions was exactly this: to leave the Biden admin looking unprepared in a crisis, deluding the public into believing that a strongman is needed to restore US power and influence.

@RepJasonCrow

Rep. Jason Crow

7 months

Israel is at war- meanwhile: 1. House is stalled until Republicans select Speaker candidate; 2. Senate is out this week; 3. No confirmed US ambassador to Israel; 4. Ukraine aid package isn’t moving; 5. Tuberville continues barricade 300+ military noms. Republicans must…

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 years

Chilling- I have similar quotes by fascists Nazis and military juntas as they destroyed democracy with the excuse of law and order.

@thehill

The Hill

4 years

AG Bill Barr: "It is the left that is engaged in the systematic shredding of norms and undermining the rule of law."

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

I am in FB jail for 30 days for posting this essay on a century of efforts to define and whitewash Fascism. Exposing the reality of Fascism will soon become more difficult.

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What Is Fascism?

A century of attempts to define and whitewash Fascism

lucid.substack.com

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

Ron DeSantis will destroy our democracy with deadly precision. I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous he is.

@RonFilipkowski

Ron Filipkowski

@RonFilipkowski

1 year

Jeb Bush endorses Ron Desantis for president.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 month

Thank you to the more than 1.5 million people who took the time to read this message. I am not leaving this alone. I write about coups. This life-size image of Biden imagines the sitting president of the United States as a victim of an authoritarian takeover.

@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 month

Wake up people. This is an emergency. This is what authoritarian thugs and terrorists do. Trump is targeting the President of the United States.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

The essence of authoritarianism is getting away with crime. That's why this indictment is so important

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

Americans, I give you...President Murdoch and the coronation of Fox News as state media

@MattLaslo

Matt Laslo

1 year

Sean Hannity broadcasting from your United States House of Representatives

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 years

The more lawless they become, the more they will cloak themselves with the appearance of law and order. That's how authoritarianism works.

@RonFilipkowski

Ron Filipkowski

@RonFilipkowski

2 years

Just a bunch of uniformed law enforcement officers in the middle of the work day at a Marco Rubio campaign event today.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

Two Musk-era changes: I am seeing same tweets over & over, I come back after a few hours and I see same tweets, like a time capsule. I also see a few people over & over again, including everything they like or RT, so I am forced to mute them. Anyone else have this?

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 years

Well, given that he planned the attack and was depending on it to remain in office he wasn't really going to intervene to stop it. He watched on TV to see when it was safe to emerge to claim his prize. In his autocratic mind, the person guilty of dereliction of duty was Pence.

@TheDailyEdge

The Daily Edge

2 years

Liz Cheney: “It’s hard to imagine a more significant, a more serious dereliction of duty,” than Trump’s failure to intervene when the US Capitol was under a deadly attack. #January6 #January6thCommittee

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 months

I study fascists and Miller checks all the boxes. He is a fanatic and a deeply committed racist. He is one of those people who need to serve a Führer or Duce to feel complete.

@StephenM

Stephen Miller

4 months

The deportations will begin at noon, Inauguration Day.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 years

This should be a front page story including @FoxNews : In Feb Trump donated over 17 TONS of masks and protective supplies to China. He is a transactional creature. What did he gain in return?

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

7 months

Apparently the idea of executing Milley is now the Party Line. We are living through real-time preparation for an authoritarian crackdown. We are in phase of "getting the public used to the idea of violence." Having authoritative voices like Haley endorse violence is key.

@atrupar

Aaron Rupar

7 months

Nikki Haley indicates she doesn't view Trump's suggestion that Joint Chiefs Chairman Milley should be executed as disqualifying

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

10 months

This is the new slogan. It's not enough that he is the victim: he has to say he is taking the fall for his supporters, they are the real targets and he is the martyr as well as the savior. This is classic authoritarian discourse.

@Acyn

Acyn

10 months

Trump: I’m being indicted for you

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

6 years

The escalation of GOP and WH rhetoric about protestors being a mob and Dems being “too dangerous to rule” is very serious. Such talk often precedes “exceptional” and authoritarian gov’t actions. Look for more of this in future.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

Think twice before retweeting or circulating pics of Musk's gun. He is showing his loyalty to violent right-wing forces in our country. The picture is designed to intimidate defenders of democracy and rule of law.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

And another reminder that the point of punishing a few is to encourage the many to self-censor. Classic authoritarian tactics.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

5 years

This is straight-up dictator-speak

@atrupar

Aaron Rupar

5 years

Wow -- Trump refers to the FBI and DOJ leaders he's purged from government as "scum"

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 month

This is totally insufficient to the gravity and magnitude of the threat

@atrupar

Aaron Rupar

1 month

Kristen Welker describes Trump's attacks on a judge's family and other unhinged rhetoric as "a reminder that we are covering this election against the backdrop of a deeply divided nation."

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 years

“I know why the Führer loves me. I appeal to his vanity.” - Hans Frank, Hitler’s lawyer and Minister of Justice.

@existentialfish

John Whitehouse

@existentialfish

4 years

Bill Barr says that Trump "is an excellent executive" whose White House makes "well-vetted" decisions. He adds that that "I've never seen such energy. He's always working."

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

5 years

I am old enough to remember when #Erdogan sat in a car in DC and watched his security ppl beat up US citizens on US soil and Trump gave passive consent. Thugs enable thugs=new US foreign policy.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

As a scholar of Fascism this is deeply familiar. This is a propaganda spectacle designed to reinforce the leader cult - thus the relief and enjoyment of the audience at hearing favorite slogans and untruths.

@CalltoActivism

CALL TO ACTIVISM

@CalltoActivism

1 year

What the ever loving fuck is it with CNN’s Town Hall audience laughing and loving Trump’s most evil shit. Did CNN crash a Klan rally to hand out tickets?

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

5 months

About time. Enough appeasing him

@rshereme

Roman Sheremeta 🇺🇦

5 months

EU leaders are considering depriving Hungary of its voting rights in order to approve a €50 billion aid package for Ukraine without its participation. By applying the penalty procedure under Article 7 for violating the rule of law, EU can suspend Hungary’s voting rights.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

7 months

This is a national emergency. I have always said the endgame of election denial is to persuade Anericans elections are no longer desirable or necessary. Repub media & politicians actively urge violence as solution to solving differences and dealing with political transitions.

@justinbaragona

Justin Baragona

@justinbaragona

7 months

Greg Gutfeld says "elections don't work" and "society is in peril and chaos because our elections don’t matter" while urging for a new American civil war. In the following tweets, I will transcribe everything he says in this clip, because it goes into some very dark territory.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 years

Over time parties taken over by authoritarians lose identity apart from the leader- their resources and time are monopolized by the need to defend him no matter what he says or does.

@blakehounshell

Blake Hounshell

@blakehounshell

4 years

The RNC announces there will be no GOP platform for the convention — just support for Trump’s second-term agenda, whatever that is

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

5 years

Many persecutors arrange sanitized tours and press views of their camps. Mussolini did it in Libya; Pinochet with the Santiago stadium. Don’t fall for it.

@Mediaite

Mediaite

5 years

Trump Says He’ll Arrange Press Tours of Migrant Detention Centers Amid Reports of Terrible Conditions

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 years

I see that the message is not sinking in: he’s not golfing, he is golfing at a Trump property, using the office of the Presidency to sell his brand. This is corruption, not recreation.

@davidaxelrod

David Axelrod

4 years

I don’t often defend this @POTUS but I don’t begrudge him a round of golf. Besides, it gives the rest of us a respite from those crazy tweets!

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 years

Advice from a historian of propaganda: Don't fall for it! Musk is filling a space Trump used to occupy. His role/job is diff, but creation of more strife/garbage & swirling attention around himself, getting you to waste your time reacting to his ignorant opinions, is the same.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

8 months

We will look back on this and wish more people had understood that Biden is our bulwark of democratic freedoms and the alternative is worse than most Americans can imagine.

@donmoyn

Don Moynihan

8 months

Biden's age has become such a trope in coverage that even when he undertakes a whirlwind diplomatic tour and a 40 minute press conference, these are the headlines. Actual demonstration of his fitness is used to raise questions about his fitness. All of this is a choice.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 years

Hey @HiltonHotels is this now your brand?

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

9 months

They all knew exactly what they were doing.

@MilesTaylorUSA

Miles Taylor

@MilesTaylorUSA

9 months

Trump advisor Hope Hicks texted another White House aide on Jan. 6, 2021: “We all look like domestic terrorists now.” That’s a line worth remembering.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

CNN became a party to Trump's need to psychologically "undo" his defeat by getting the audience to applaud him *for being an assaulter.* The more approval authoritarians get, the more they feel emboldened to be even more lawless. This is why this "town hall" was so dangerous.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

17 days

Can anyone tell me who this pastor is?

@RachelBitecofer

Rachel Bitecofer 🗽💡🔭🦆

@RachelBitecofer

17 days

This evangelical is over Trump. 👇 Calls his Bible disgusting.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 years

There will be a caravan emergency throughout the #January6th hearings. That's how propaganda works.

@atrupar

Aaron Rupar

2 years

checking in on Fox News

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 month

👀

@intermarium24

Intermarium 24

1 month

🇭🇺 Big demonstrations have just started in Budapest, Hungary demanding the removal of Viktor Orban from power in this European country

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 months

To get people to embrace violence, fill them with existential dread- the fear that it's the Leader or the abyss. This is an incitement to violence speech. Trump is a propaganda machine devoted to destroying America.

@Acyn

Acyn

2 months

Trump: Now, If I don't get elected, it's gonna be a bloodbath. It's going to be a bloodbath for the country.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

9 months

This is terrorism

@liamstack

Liam Stack

9 months

A woman who owns two clothing stores in California was shot and killed by a man who made derogatory comments about the pride flag hanging outside her business. Police said the suspected shooter didn't like the rainbow flag outside her business.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

@mikepompeo You served a man who called neo-Nazis very fine people

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

24 days

Spoken like a man whose wife was conspiring to overthrow the US government.

@MikeSacksEsq

Mike Sacks

24 days

Justice Thomas just suggested J6, legally, is no different than any other violent attempt to disrupt official proceedings

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 months

A Fascist rally in Rome. Hundreds empowered to perform the "saluto al Duce" (Fascist salute) looks like many are wearing black shirts too. They are honoring a loser and serial rapist who ruined their country.

@PBerizzi

Paolo Berizzi

4 months

Roma, Italia, 2024. Vergogna di Stato. #AccaLarentia

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

19 days

“Maybe he gets hit by a truck,” Trump said to Michael Cohen on a 2018 phone call about David Pecker, then publisher of the National Enquirer, who was considering ending his longtime arrangement with Trump to keep accusations of the President’s sex crimes out of the press." --from…

@hugolowell

Hugo Lowell

19 days

NYT on first witness in Trump criminal case: David Pecker, who ran the company that owned The National Enquirer, is set to go first, and is expected to recount for the jury several conversations with Mr. Trump about the hush money

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

3 months

@nytimes @washingtonpost @WSJ not making this your headline would be journalistic malpractice.

@BidenHQ

Biden-Harris HQ

3 months

Trump says he would encourage Russia to attack NATO allies: I said I would not protect our NATO allies. In fact, I would encourage Russia to do whatever the hell they want

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

22 days

This is what authoritarians do: incite violence against anyone seen as having the power to harm Cult Leader. This is also designed to make it very difficult to find jurors and thus proceed with the trial. It is form of sabotage of our democratic justice system.

@AaronBlake

Aaron Blake

22 days

Fox News host Jesse Watters on Tuesday broadcast extensive biographical details about Juror No. 2 -- her neighborhood, occupation, education, marital and family status, and what industry her fiance works in. He concluded by saying, "I'm not so sure about Juror No. 2." He…

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 months

Mocking people for disabilities is part of a larger cultivation of cruelty in Americans. Cruelty is essential for the maintenance of autocracy.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

3 years

Please, design a system where one compromised individual can derail the hopes of a generation.

@nytimes

The New York Times

3 years

Breaking News: The heart of President Biden's climate agenda — a push to replace coal- and gas-fired power plants — is said to likely be cut from the budget bill because Senator Joe Manchin opposes it.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

3 years

Translation: "We are appeasing Trump to avoid his mafioso threats." Appeasement has never worked. Cave to his threats now & America pays a bigger price later.

@TheRickWilson

Rick Wilson

3 years

“Trump will go away quietly if we just don’t convict” him is an argument many Senators are making quietly. Fools. Unless you convict him, he will haunt you until he’s dead. “As Trump Seeks to Remain a Political Force, New Targets Emerge”

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 months

A diseased and weak population is easier to control

@BarbaraComstock

Barbara Comstock

@BarbaraComstock

2 months

Trump said in Richmond, that he will take all federal funds away from public schools that require vaccines. Like most states, Virginia requires MMR vaccine, chickenpox vaccine, polio, etc. So Trump would take millions in federal funds away from all Virginia public schools.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 years

I don’t retweet Trump, but in terms of who in America is a “lowlife,” being a racist money-laundering serial sex assaulter who talks about shooting people certainly qualifies for the #1 spot.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 months

Trump is telling Americans very clearly that he will be jailing and killing Americans. Anyone who votes for him is complicit with these future crimes because of this transparency & these threats. Americans cannot say they did not know ahead of time.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

3 years

We've been in denial - about far-right extremism, the GOP, and Trump - and now we're at a crossroads. History shows clearly what happens when you appease those who try and take down democracy. I don't want that for my country.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 years

I work on this stuff, on coups & fascists & mass murderers. I advised the J6 committee on political violence. Yet seeing this appetite for violence is scary precisely because the GOP is unrepentant and many participants would do it again tomorrow. #Jan6thCommitteeHearings

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 years

Only corrupt authoritarians say things like this. He is telling you very clearly there will not be a free and fair election.

@kaitlancollins

Kaitlan Collins

@kaitlancollins

4 years

"You'll never know who the winner is, but the winner's going to be me," President Trump says during his latest criticisms on voting by mail.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

30 days

It is beyond pathetic that a foundation named after a US president is caving to a thug who tried to overthrow the government.

@EdwardGLuce

Edward Luce

1 month

If Trump can scare the Gerald Ford Foundation from giving an award to @Liz_Cheney six months before the election, imagine the spinelessness we'd see after he won. Really terrible foretaste what would be in store.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 years

When Mussolini was still Prime Minister, he used to joke about staying in office for 20 years. No one understood what he meant until it was too late.

@RobWayTV

Rob Way

4 years

“10 more years,” a crowd at President Trump’s South Carolina rally just started chanting. Trump: “We’ll set the term limit at 25 years” and said Senator Lindsey Graham will help get it passed.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

3 years

I am a scholar of Fascism and this is breaking my brain.

@RonFilipkowski

Ron Filipkowski

@RonFilipkowski

3 years

Painter Scott Brady showed up at the Springfield, PA School Board meeting in a HAZMAT suit to complain about his daughter wearing a mask: “This is what Hitler wants. Hitler wants everybody divided. If we all stay divided, who wins? Hitler wins.”

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

9 months

Ramaswamy's "candidacy" is a psyop. Sure, he wants a job in Trump's next fascist government. But his backers know real function of his "candidate persona": to reach new groups for radicalization & cement US & foreign far-right ties, incl. by normalizing Putin's crimes.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

11 months

Hello to all - in case it got lost in the shuffle yesterday, I'll repeat my point that autocrats don't pardon people who have staged uprisings against them, esp. autocrats who have been killing dozens of elites since war started for one or two critical remarks.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

When a cult leader who instigated a violent coup attempt talks about terminating the Constitution to return to power illegally it should be front-page news and it is tragic that it is not.

@NormOrnstein

Norman Ornstein

1 year

As expected, not a single mention on the front page of the Washington Post or the New York Times of a former president calling for shredding the Constitution to seize the presidency illegally. To quote the Post, “democracy dies in darkness.“

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 months

Perfect way to frame this

@TimothyDSnyder

Timothy Snyder

@TimothyDSnyder

2 months

The Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether a US citizen is above the law – a proposition that, if affirmed, would destroy the moral, legal, and political foundations of the Court itself.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

Musk is a Fascist troll. His rhetoric is the same as Bannon's (who organized a recent "Globalist Puppet Masters" conference).

@elonmusk

Elon Musk

1 year

@neontaster Vindman is both puppet & puppeteer. Question is who pulls his strings … ?

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 years

Terrifying footage of Trump threatening Pence to the crowd, and the extremists breaching the Capitol. I have studied Fascism for years and this footage shows a Fascist leader clinging to power, and inciting his Fascist followers to violence. #January6thCommitteeHearings

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 months

This is what coups look like

@BillWeirCNN

Bill Weir

3 years

Horrific new video obtained by CNN shows a MAGA rioter (in white hat and backpack) grab a DC Metro officer and pull him down Capitol steps where he is stomped and beaten with an American flag pole. At one point they sing the Star Spangled Banner

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

5 months

I have studied dictators for decades and guess what they don't stop being dictators after one day

@ktumulty

Karen Tumulty

5 months

NEW: Trump ‘dictator’ comment reignites criticism his camp has tried to curb. By @marianne_levine @iarnsdorf @jdawsey1 :

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 years

What's happening? Toxic masculinity is happening. That is all.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 months

So more evidence of Trump's corruption comes out and he releases a video about being a holy figure. Straight out of the authoritarian playbook. In Fascist Italy people had to refer to Il Duce as He, as though he were God. Scams repeat: read my book #Strongmen for details.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

5 years

This is not democracy. This is the language of authoritarianism, which has used state power to crush “organized destruction” for 100 years. Barr is gearing up for something.

@thehill

The Hill

5 years

Attorney General Bill Barr: "This is not decay. This is organized destruction. Secularists and their allies have marshaled all the forces of mass communication, popular culture, the entertainment industry, and academia in an unremitting assault on religion & traditional values."

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 years

Without this man willing to lie for Trump there would have been no photo op. Authoritarians are nothing without enablers and people they use as props.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

3 months

My god they are almost all acting like a hit squad against Biden knowing this elevates the campaign of a rapist and money launderer who tried to overthrow the US government. Tragic.

@rgoodlaw

Ryan Goodman

3 months

Misinformation on Meet the Press ( @MeetThePress @kwelkernbc @gelles ). See what's missing in this screen shot?

Tweet media one

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

3 years

Thank you to the hundreds of thousands who have viewed this video. Here is a version with captions. To protect our democracy, we must accept the reality that the GOP is a far-right party like others that have damaged democracies around the world.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

"We have no choice but to wage a war on woke": this is exactly how Fascists talk. As an expert on Fascism, I don't use the term for many people but DeSantis proves its relevance with his own words every day.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

1 year

This is a classic authoritarian tactic. Turn students into informers on teachers (and on each other). The goal of authoritarians is always to have you make their jobs easier by engaging in self-censorship.

@Phil_Lewis_

philip lewis

1 year

A Tennessee bill that allows students to report professors who teach "divisive concepts" passes House and Senate The list of "divisive concepts" bars discussions on biases, white privilege and racism's role in slavery

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

5 years

This is talk straight out of the regimes I study, with propagandists egging on “the people” to harm the leader’s enemies.

@JasonSCampbell

Jason S. Campbell

@JasonSCampbell

5 years

Jeanine Pirro says an example must be made of "the traitorous treasonous group that accused Donald Trump"

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

15 days

Folks, whatever the Court does, having this case heard and the idea of having immunity for a military coup taken seriously by being debated is a big victory in the information war that MAGA and allies wage alongside legal battles. Authoritarians specialize in normalizing extreme…

@EdwardGLuce

Edward Luce

15 days

Still can't quite digest that a former and possible future American president is telling the supreme court that he should have immunity to kill political rivals. Utterly surreal.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

9 months

The aim of this part of the spectacle is to look "presidential" and generate as much dramatic build-up as possible to the moment when he takes a hit on behalf of his people. Maximize the glamour, then milk the outrage to keep the $ coming in.

@atrupar

Aaron Rupar

9 months

jeez this is an intense motorcade

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 months

As I write in #Strongmen , the idea of foreigners coming over the border to commit crimes is one of the oldest authoritarian propaganda points. As usual, Musk is disseminating trash.

@BFriedmanDC

Brandon Friedman

2 months

A major U.S. defense contractor is falsely accusing the commander-in-chief of treason

Tweet media one

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

4 months

He should be in prison

@ProjectLincoln

The Lincoln Project

@ProjectLincoln

4 months

BREAKING: Roger Stone on tape discussing the assassination of two prominent Democrats, which he denied ever doing.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 years

Our enemies are working hard to try make the US implode from within.

@FrankFigliuzzi1

Frank Figliuzzi

@FrankFigliuzzi1

2 years

Divide & conquer: A sample of 32,315 pro-Rittenhouse hashtag tweets, Nov 19-20, showed 29,609 with disabled geolocation. Of those, 17,701 were listed as “foreign”, but a deep scrub revealed most of those were in Russia, China, and the EU. @Tara_Writer @TAPSTRIMEDIA #Rittenhouse

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 years

I don't think people are prepared for what can happen if Republicans win control of Congress. There is nothing more dangerous than radicalized lawmakers allied w/seasoned extremist operatives (Stone, Flynn, Bannon) & an autocrat who can't wait to take revenge for his defeat.

@Leahgreenb

Leah Greenberg

2 years

We gotta hold the Senate, folks

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

3 years

Today’s authoritarians often don’t outlaw elections. Instead they make sure elections produce the results they need. Propaganda convinces people to believe those fraudulent results and see legitimate winners as criminals. USA=case study in the making.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

5 years

“Mussolini is always right,” was the fascist slogan. Americans are living in real-time the construction of an authoritarian mentality poisoning government and society. It can take years to recover.

@capitalweather

Capital Weather Gang

@capitalweather

5 years

BREAKING: NOAA has sided with President Trump, rather than its own scientists:

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 years

What has he done to merit this? Serious question. What has he done for/with the Hungarians?

@RonFilipkowski

Ron Filipkowski

@RonFilipkowski

2 years

Jared Kushner received the Hungarian Order of Merit today at their Consulate in NY.

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

6 months

He is educating Americans to love autocrats, whether they are Communists or Fascists does not matter. Power matters.

@Acyn

Acyn

6 months

Trump: President Xi is like Central Casting. There’s nobody in Hollywood who can play the role of President Xi. The look, the strength, the voice

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

7 months

His purpose is not to govern but to provide cover for criminals

@Fritschner

Aaron Fritschner

7 months

Jim Jordan has been in Congress for 16 years and the number of bills he has sponsored which became law is zero. The number of bills he has sponsored which passed the House is also zero. He had one resolution pass, to create the "Deep State" subcommittee. In 16 years...

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

3 years

He is making everyone complicit by telling them the truth and then it is on them to perpetuate his lie- they are tied to him, can’t say they didn’t know. This is how corruption works.

@atrupar

Aaron Rupar

3 years

Trump on polling: "If it's bad, I say it's fake. If it's good, I say, that's the most accurate poll perhaps ever."

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

5 years

Why does Trump repeat himself? His goal is to indoctrinate more & more people: propaganda works through endless repetition of simple phrases like “enemy of the people” that carry emotional power.

@grantstern

Grant Stern 

5 years

Trump is running through his greatest hits of inflammatory words. He's on re-runs. "Enemy of the People"? That's old hat. Why do that? #TrumpsTerrifiedofMueller #mondaythoughts

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

3 years

There can be no closure to the Trump era, and no neutralization of the danger to democracy he represents, until he is indicted. Short-term, prosecution plays into the victimhood persona strongmen cultivate, but democracy=standing up for accountability.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

2 months

The Leader Must Always Win, He is Always the Best, and everyone who works with autocrats must keep up the pretense. It is all a charade to produce more propaganda.

@atrupar

Aaron Rupar

2 months

get a load of this effin’ guy

Tweet media one

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@ruthbenghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

3 years

When Mussolini was voted out of office by his own Fascist Grand Council in a dramatic July 1943 nighttime meeting, he *came to work the next day as though nothing had happened*. #Strongmen

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

5 years

Warning: this is merely a preview of the coming lawless behavior, which will at times include other insurrection-type or soft coup activities meant to disable the operation of democratic govt and save GOP and Trump from incrimination. Act now or regret it for years.

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

5 years

A reminder that litigation is built into the strongman’s business and governance model. Trump, Berlusconi and Erdogan all have 1000s of lawsuits under their belts. These men tie up their opponents’ time and resources to exhaust them.

@thehill

The Hill

5 years

#BREAKING : Trump sues Oversight chairman to block subpoena requesting 10 years of financial records

Tweet media one

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat

9 months

Sitting lawmaker calling for violence. The GOP has become a party of fascist thugs. Read #Strongmen to see how that works out.

@atrupar

Aaron Rupar

9 months

Gaetz: "I cannot stand these people that are destroying our country ... we know that only through force can we make any change in a corrupt town like Washington DC"

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