Trump's behavior that 'doesn't get enough attention' exposed by authoritarianism scholar

Donald Trump lies about his prior failed election campaign, but that isn't the only reason he has been so successful, according to one authoritarianism expert.

New York University history professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat appeared on MSNBC's Ayman on Saturday, where she was asked how Trump is polling alongside or above President Joe Biden despite the former president's "threats to our democracy." Ben-Ghiat has previously said Trump is priming the pump when it comes to his "dehumanizing" language.

"How do you explain this phenomenon?" the host asked her.

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"Trump has been stupendously successful in building a leadership cult, a cult of personality, and convincing people, and it's quite extraordinary. I don't know any other case in history where someone pulled off a mass deception at this scale, in an open society with pluralistic media, and here I'm referring to his claim that he won the 2020 election," she explained. "Hitler, Mussolini, other dictators, they did this in a closed society, to convince people of their lies. Donald Trump has done this in an open society, which speaks to the strength of his cult."

Then, she said what people might be missing from the picture.

"He has also been able to play the victim very successfully," she elaborated. "And this does not get enough attention in that it makes his followers feel protective of him. And, anything else that happens to him is just confirmation of this belief that he is a victim being persecuted. January 6th was an attempt to save a distressed leader, and people rallied, and so this is a continuation of that. That ideology of saving the leader from an unjust fate."

Watch the full interview below or click the link right here.