Trump's 'cult of personality' is drawing to a close: historian

In an interview with Politico, historian and autocracy expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat suggested that the cult of personality that elevated Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States may be drawing to a close as his 2020 election loss, the subsequent criminal investigations and political rivals take their toll.

Speaking with Politico's Michael Kruse, Ben-Ghiat quickly pointed out she predicted the former president would not go quietly if he lost to now-President Joe Biden and that, as his autocratic style is adopted by his up-and-coming rivals, his own star is fading.

As Kruse wrote, "She [Ben-Ghiat] had seen enough of Donald Trump’s behavior over the preceding five years to know how neatly he lined up with other strongmen she had studied and how his autocratic tendencies would influence his behavior whether he won or lost," adding that she told him, "He’s an authoritarian, and they can’t leave office. They don’t have good endings and they don’t leave properly.”

According to the historian, Trump is still hanging onto his rabid followers by turning his election loss into a shared experience with them as they cling to the "Big Lie" which keeps him elevated in their eyes.

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Asked, "Where is Trump in his own timeline? Is he in your estimation getting weaker, getting stronger, in a holding pattern?" she replied, "The genius of the 'big lie' was not only that it sparked a movement that ended up with January 6 to physically allow him to stay in office. But psychologically the 'big lie' was very important because it prevented his propagandized followers from having to reckon with the fact that he lost. And it maintains him as their hero, as their winner, as the invincible Trump, but also as the wronged Trump, the victim. Victimhood is extremely important for all autocrats. They always have to be the biggest victim"

According to Ben-Ghiat, that support could be all swept away in a moment if the former president is faced with criminal indictments.

"The 'big lie' allowed him to psychologically never leave. So he’s in this kind of limbo" she claimed before explaining, "The big question will be what will happen in the coming months so that he can retain that power because he’s very toxic. There’s always this worry that maybe the investigations will bring more things out, so it’s not a done deal that he will get the nomination. But he’s been remarkably successful in ways that don’t surprise me at all. Because that’s how authoritarians are. They’re personality cults, even if they rule in a democracy like [Italy’s former prime minister Silvio] Berlusconi did. Berlusconi’s personality cult did not deflate until he was convicted, which he eventually was. That’s what it takes. It takes prosecution and conviction to deflate their personality cults."

The NYU professor also predicted that up-and-comers like Florida's controversial Gov. Ron DeSantis will eat into Trump's base.

"He has autocratic tendencies," she said of the Florida lawmaker. "What’s so interesting is he was a Reaganite and then he had clearly some kind of epiphany when Trump came on the scene. He had that campaign video that showed his house being transformed into an altar for Trump. And he got the endorsement. He has absorbed the lessons of what you need to get ahead in the GOP today. And that is to be a forceful bully, even to high school students. The way he carries himself and speaks has gotten much more aggressive. And he’s also very smartly tried to turn Florida into this refuge for all who are oppressed by Biden."

You can read more of her analysis here.