Being almost killed ‘can cause a wave of sympathy,’ professor says
President Donald Trump may take a page out of the “authoritarian playbook,” and use his assassination attempt to make himself more powerful, according to a New York University professor.
Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat wrote in The Conversation that “assassination attempts can cause a wave of sympathy for leaders that can boost their personality cults as well.”
“And with each failed attempt, the personality cult themes about the leader’s macho toughness, resilience and invincibility gain credence among his followers,” the history professor said. “This was certainly the case with Castro and Mussolini, and it has been the case so far with former President Donald Trump.”
“From Mussolini and Hitler onward, strongmen have posed as victims of internal and external enemies, as well as protectors of the nation – as the only individuals who could save the people and lead them to greatness,” she said.
(This is not the first time she has compared Trump to Mussolini.)
“The effects of the assassination attempt on Trump are so far in line with authoritarian history,” she wrote, analyzing how Trump responded to being shot at. “Chief among its aftereffects is a boost to Trump’s victimhood persona.”
The professor noted that many Republicans showed solidarity with Trump after he survived an assassination attempt.
“The attack has also brought Trump even more loyalty from followers bonded to him,” she wrote. “At the [Republican National Convention], many wore ear bandages as signs of support. Trump’s wounds are their wounds too – to them, he embodies the nation, expresses their sufferings and risks his safety on their behalf.”
His campaign, according to Ben-Ghiat, “has always had vengeance and retribution for those who persecute him, in his telling, as a central theme.”
She then connected the assassination attempt and Trump’s response to the much fretted about “Project 2025,” a long white paper from the Heritage Foundation.
It includes firing bureaucrats who refuse to do their jobs and implement the executive branch agenda. Former Trump officials are involved with the project, but the president himself has no involvement in it.
Nevertheless, Ben-Ghiat is concerned.
“The assassination attempt on Trump may be used as justification for these measures, just as other attacks have been used by other authoritarians in history.”
Editor’s note: The College Fix is a recipient of a grant from the Heritage Foundation for an initiative unrelated to Project 2025.
MORE: Professors question whether Trump was really hit by bullet
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