Does authoritarianism have a place in American society? You almost certainly said no, but why? Authoritarianism is the blind support or submission to authority and the repression of individual freedom of thought and action. This sounds pretty terrible, right? I like freedom; that’s a fundamental American value.
Conservatives know this; they want free speech, the freedom to own guns, and freedom from the government taking their money. They argue Democrats are trying to take these things away. But doesn’t this parallel the way Trump supporters align with Trump at the expense of their personal freedom?
Recently, Trump promoted the narrative of Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs. A rumor began on Twitter claiming Haitian immigrants were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. During a debate, Trump, out of sheer desperation, claimed, “They’re eating the dogs.” This isn’t true. Viral videos circulated, but they were quickly debunked: one showed a man clearing roadkill, and another showed a Haitian immigrant cooking chicken on a barbecue. Nevertheless, Trump supporters quickly adopted this conspiracy.
This example alone doesn’t prove authoritarianism. It’s not necessarily authoritarian for followers to believe a famous person promoting something—even a conspiracy. When misinformation this unfounded enters public discourse, it’s quickly fact-checked and dismissed. But that’s not what happens with Trump supporters; the misinformation becomes integrated into their minds, and any deviation from these conspiracies is met with consequences.
It’s important to distinguish between ideological conservatism and Trump loyalism. A Republican who doesn’t believe Haitian immigrants are eating pets but is concerned about illegal immigration and wants tougher border sanctions would, in theory, be welcomed by Trump supporters. But that’s not what happens. Conservative Republicans like Dick Cheney, Mitt Romney, and Mike Pence are often marked as enemies for refusing to become Trump loyalists. Even Fox News faced dismissal from Trump’s coalition after questioning the rigged election conspiracy and January 6 riots. Allegiance is no longer to conservatism but to Trumpism.
According to a CNN poll from August 2023, 70% of Republicans believe Biden was illegitimately elected. There’s no evidence for this. Sixty-three court cases found no widespread election fraud, many adjudicated by Republican judges. This conspiracy mattered enough that Trump supporters attempted to stop the peaceful transfer of power on January 6, storming the Capitol to prevent certification of the election or to hang Mike Pence if he didn’t unilaterally declare Trump president. The results don’t matter—the only thing that matters is Trump’s word.
January 6 represents the definition of authoritarianism: blind submission to authority and repression of individual freedom. The rioters and those who believe this lie are in blind submission to Trump, attempting to repress Americans’ freedom to elect their representatives. Earlier, we all agreed that authoritarianism isn’t desirable for America, so how can we make sense of so many millions subscribing to it? The tendency toward authoritarianism isn’t unique to Trump supporters. Calls from the left to pack the courts, incorporate Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., as states, eliminate the filibuster, and abolish the Electoral College and Senate have similar undertones.
There are valid arguments for some of these changes, but it’s undeniable that they would lead to more Democratic power, making it easier to pass legislation. Whether these changes are morally right isn’t relevant—it just matters that they’re politically expedient. Acceptance of authoritarianism is bipartisan. Left-wingers haven’t stormed the Capitol or filed lawsuits to overturn elections, but the sentiment that fuels a Bernie supporter to promote adding justices to the Supreme Court is fundamentally the same as the sentiment inspiring a MAGA supporter to break Capitol windows—both are authoritarian at their core.
Now that we’ve established that authoritarianism is accepted by a broad range of people, the question becomes, what’s wrong with it, and why is democracy a better choice? If you’re a Republican, how would you feel if Trump won fairly, but Democrats then falsely claimed the election was stolen and called for forcibly removing Trump from office? You’d probably say what Democrats have said: there’s no evidence of a stolen election, the rioters should be jailed and convicted of treason, and you’d be right. If you think, “But the 2020 election was actually stolen,” there’s still no evidence—you’re just believing what one man says.
It turns out people want their person in office and their ideas enacted into law. They don’t care how it happens, as long as it does. We’ve learned that a significant number of people support authoritarianism, but what does that mean? Did people ever really oppose this ideology? Is America still a beacon of freedom and democracy? Sometimes your team loses. You won’t always win, but the exchange of ideas is what makes for a strong country. We need to return to compromise; whether a Democrat or Republican is in power, we have to handle the outcome. Otherwise, we’re no better than those who fully accept authoritarian rule.
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