Donald Trump gave away that he plans to mimic other far-right authoritarians, a legal expert said on Friday.
Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance outlined what she thinks "Trump wants to do to America," and based it on an interesting development: the former president's embrace of Argentine libertarian Javier Milei.
"More evidence of what Trump has in store for us if he’s reelected. In November, on Truth Social, Trump congratulated Javier Milei on his election to Argentina’s presidency," Vance said Friday.
Milei, the ex-prosecutor says, "got straight to work."
"He devalued the peso and took other measures, which, while they may make investors happy, and are intended to help the most vulnerable, sent prices spiraling upwards," Vance wrote. "Unions were among those who were concerned, fearing layoffs, inflation, and salary cuts."
This is the type of future Vance envisions for the U.S. if Trump were to win a second chance at the presidency. She thinks that could possibly come into play in terms of political protests.
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"Like Milei, who he has publicly admired, Trump has a built-in trigger for unleashing unprecedented control on protests in the U.S. They are sure to emerge, as they did during his first term in office if he is reelected," the expert wrote. "Trump could impose measures akin to those being explored in Argentina, using the Insurrection Act to circumvent legal prohibitions against using the military in the domestic United States."
She added that he might have the DOJ investigate former Trump officials who have criticized him, prosecute DOJ and FBI officials, and allow the military to be deployed in the U.S.
"That reporting comes into sharper focus as we see Trump cheering on a man who has similar plans in another country. The most important takeaway, for our purposes, from Milei’s efforts to preemptively curb protests is Trump’s approval of them. Does Trump intend to impose the same sort of 'order' on civil society here? What follows next? Mass arrests? Suspension of the First Amendment? Full on Gilead?" she asked. "Yes, it sounds alarmist, but unfortunately, it’s all too real. Trump has a habit of saying the quiet part out loud. He’s doing that here. Are we paying attention? We had better be."
