Trump Isn't Playing Nice Guy -- He's Playing Tsar
The Republican Party’s live-streamed, streamlined convention has perhaps unwittingly revealed some key insights into the Trump presidency. The broadcast has been laced with moments that are not traditional for a convention — Trump using the presidency itself, in real time, to bestow favors on ordinary people. He swooped in on a naturalization ceremony in which five people were sworn in as U.S. citizens. And most notably he granted a full pardon to a reformed bank robber.
The moments were scripted to be humanizing: Trump with normal people, offering a sense of concern and connection with American citizens. The criticism of them has mostly been framed around the public use of the office for partisan purposes, a move unfamiliar, and previously off-limits, for this type of event.
For those of us who study authoritarian regimes and how they use the media, however, they looked very familiar — and more worrisome. They are part of a pattern that also includes the surfeit of Trump family members given prime speaking spots; a spate of sacred (or sacred-looking) spaces, and a truncated version of history. These are all visuals and gestures that come from the authoritarian toolkit.
To put it bluntly, for those of us familiar with such images and gestures, the broadcast-only RNC convention has essentially presented President Trump as a merciful tsar.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-isn-t-playing-nice-guy-he-s-playing-tsar/ar-BB18rooC?ocid=msedgdhp
No wonder he loves Putin.
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