A GOP analyst and former White House insider revealed that as President Donald Trump has shown signs of "dictatorial dementia," energetic "young henchmen" around him are in a hurry to reshape the government — even rushing to conduct mass firings.
Bill Kristol, the editor at large for The Bulwark and a former chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle, described how 80-year-old Trump has surrounded himself with young men. Acting director of national intelligence Bill Pulte is 38 years old, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is 40, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and FBI Director Kash Patel are all 46 years old. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is 51, and Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought is 50.
"A sense of impending mortality seems to be making our president even more unhinged than ever," Kristol wrote.
Kristol described how Trump might not have "the patience to carry out a thoroughgoing subversion of the rule of law, of our political and civil liberties, or of our elections," or the ability to enact a full authoritarian takeover.
"On the other hand, there’s no doubt he would like to see such a takeover," Kristol wrote.
"And he does have young men with a lean and hungry look in positions of authority and power in the executive branch who are committed to making his dream of power without limits a reality," Kristol wrote.
These men have something in common, Kristol explained.
"They’re young, but they’re as determined as the old man they work for not to hand their positions over to anyone other than fellow loyalists after their terms in office, if they intend to leave office at all," Kristol wrote. "They’re as determined as the old man they work for not to step aside from their powers and allow political opponents to look into what they have done. And like the old man they work for, they aren’t committed to the peaceful and democratic transfer of power after an election, or to the political norms or lawful procedures of a liberal democracy."
"None of these men should be in a position of power and authority in the government of the United States," Kristol added. "Yet here they are, hiring and firing at will, abusing their authority and politicizing their agencies in unprecedented ways."