LA Times op-ed warns of Republican shift toward 'authoritarianism,' rejecting 'democracy'

New York University history professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat wrote a Monday opinion in the Los Angeles Times tarring the Republican Party for resembling authoritarian regimes.

"At critical junctures in their histories, political parties reassess their platforms, methods and the qualities and values they desire their politicians to embody," Ben-Ghiat explained. "The Jan. 6 coup attempt that intended to keep President Trump in office illegally was such a moment for the GOP, which ever since has been remaking itself into an illiberal entity with dizzying speed."

Ben-Ghiat, who writes a "newsletter about threats to democracy," slammed the GOP.

"The Republican Party is expunging the remaining democratic elements from its cadres and political culture with great vigor," the writer suggested. "It is embracing home-grown extremists, forcing out moderates, threatening dissenters and aligning itself with foreign autocrats like Hungary’s Viktor Orban."

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She made an appeal to history, suggesting, "We must look to authoritarian party dynamics as they have unfolded around the world to understand the Republicans’ journey out of democracy."

She harkened back to murderous foreign regimes, both historical and modern. 

"Autocrats have long encouraged the lawless and the corrupt to populate party and state institutions. Twentieth century Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s Cabinet and his Fascist Party bureaucracy were full of former Blackshirts who had killed liberals and leftists," she recounted. "In 2019, national legislators in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s India included 11 individuals who were involved in murder cases and an additional 10 who had been convicted of serious crimes."

She claimed, with all of that in mind, "A similar frightening dynamic is now developing in America as the GOP cultivates politicians with the right credentials for illiberal governance."

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The next evidence Ben-Ghiat cited was how "Republican campaign ads and speeches feature party hopefuls wielding shotguns or assault rifles and spouting fiery rhetoric. In the cases of Dr. Mehmet Oz, in Pennsylvania, and J.R. Majewski, in Ohio, such ads helped earn them primary victories."

She then appeared to suggest that various Republicans losing popularity and being democratically voted out of office was similar to how "many authoritarian parties end up eating their own" in political purges. 

"The GOP is in such a phase now. Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney won her GOP primary two years ago with 73% of the vote; today she is a pariah," the author claimed. "Just two of the 10 GOP House members who voted to impeach Trump in 2021 will remain in office, as befits the taboo on showing disloyalty to the leader."

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Ben-Ghiat warned that whether or not Trump remains at the forefront of Republican politics, the GOP itself has become an authoritarian force.

"Though Trump’s leader cult remains robust, multiple investigations make his political future increasingly uncertain. And in a sense Trump may no longer be necessary," she theorized. "The Republicans have normalized authoritarian party dynamics to an extent that other autocratic-minded leaders — say, DeSantis — could easily step in. The GOP is now a party ready to govern through illiberal methods, regardless of which Republican may be in the White House in 2024."