Hitler Also Manufactured A Crisis To Destroy Democracy
Hitler Also Manufactured A Crisis To Destroy Democracy
Trump unleashing the military and national guard in L.A. is reminiscent of authoritarians like Hitler who deliberately created chaos as an excuse to erode democratic norms and gain more power.
THE LEFT HOOK WITH WAJAHAT ALI
JUN 12, 2025
"It can't happen here" remains a common refrain of many Americans who continue to suffer from a failure of imagination.
The "it" refers to authoritarian rule by a strongman and a single party that effectively replaces our constitutional republic and suppresses our liberties. The assumption is that the separation of powers and guardrails will contain such a destructive force, and those privileged individuals within our institutions will resist and not obey in advance.
In 2025, there are 4,000 National Guard members, 700 marines, and hundreds of masked ICE agents unleashed on one of the largest, most diverse cities in America. They are being employed by a twice-impeached, convicted criminal who previously incited a violent insurrection to stay in power. This vulgarian, who has quoted and praised Hitler, is now spending more than $40 million of US taxpayer dollars to hold a military parade for himself on his birthday. Tanks are rolling down the streets of the US Capitol. The military at Fort Bragg cheers him on as he uses them as props to mock and ridicule the free press and his critics.
Billionaires are lining up to bend the knee and offer Trump money to ensure they can maintain their bottom line and complete their mergers. Elected officials who swore an oath remain complicit and applaud in public, voluntarily forfeiting their power to check the man who once said he wants to “terminate the Constitution” because they are afraid for their careers and safety.
Meanwhile, Trump and his minions, including Stephen Miller, are unleashing their brownshirts to terrorize US citizens and residents under the false pretext of an emergency, invasion, and insurrection.
This has all happened before, in 1933, in Germany.
Historian and professor Timothy Ryback, author of Takeover: Hitler’s Final Rise to Power, just published an essay in The Atlantic, Hitler Used a Bogus Crisis of ‘Public Order’ to Make Himself Dictator, conveniently coinciding with Trump’s crackdown in L.A.
He joins me in this important Chai Talk to describe how Hitler, who initially only had 33% support of the public, was able to degrade and then dismantle Germany’s democratic institutions from within on his way to becoming an authoritarian ruler.
One of his first steps was to manufacture a public crisis and exploit an emergency.
Give us a watch!
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