352: Trump Is Sabotaging America with Ruth Ben-Ghiat
Politics War Room with James Carville & Al Hunt
Politicon
4.6 • 3.8K Ratings
🗓️ 6 February 2026
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
James Carville and Al hunt are joined on the sofa by Ruth Ben-Ghiat discussing the current landscape of education and authoritarianism, the characteristics of strongmen leaders, and the implications of fascism in modern politics. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the rule of law, the reactionary nature of fascism, and the global authoritarian landscape. The discussion also touches on the future of democracy, leadership, and the challenges of restoring trust and diplomacy in America.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Authoritarianism and Strong Men
02:54 The Nature of Strong Men and the Rule of Law
05:50 Fascism and Its Characteristics
09:16 The Reactionary Nature of Fascism
12:07 The Global Landscape of Authoritarianism
15:00 The Future of Democracy and Leadership
17:55 Restoring Trust in America and Its Institutions
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Trump and company are saboteurs. |
| 0:02.0 | They're trying to sabotage America so thoroughly that it'll be wrecked for generations. |
| 0:07.6 | And that's why they're wrecking medical research, scientific research, child welfare. |
| 0:13.4 | All the things that brought America prosperity and prestige in the world have to be wrecked. |
| 0:20.7 | It's so tragic. |
| 0:22.5 | This is what makes me nerd. |
| 0:23.7 | So tragic. |
| 0:26.7 | James, we're elevating ourselves. |
| 0:28.7 | We have Dr. Ruth Ben-Giott, who has written a great book, Strong Men, from Mussolini |
| 0:34.9 | to the President. |
| 0:35.9 | She is an expert on authoritarianism and strong men. |
| 0:39.9 | Doctor, we really appreciate, I'll call you, Ruth. We appreciate you being here. |
| 0:44.2 | One of the things that strikes me that none of them, none of the strong men believe in the rule of |
| 0:50.0 | law. Michael Ludig, the judge, said to us, you know, a year ago, the basic issue with Trump |
| 0:56.8 | it doesn't believe in the rule of law. You have to understand. I think Nixon did believe in the |
| 1:00.1 | rule of law. He just violated it a number of times. But strong men don't care about the |
| 1:04.3 | rule of law. So, so basically, is Trump any different than most of the people that you wrote about |
| 1:10.4 | it as far as that? |
| 1:11.9 | No. |
| 1:12.6 | And one of the things that we've seen in Minneapolis, I think it's coming home to people, is that these are, this is an administration that has totally rejected any democratic notion of public space, of law enforcement, when recently it came out that an ice |
| 1:31.7 | agent told a legal observer, just standing around peacefully, if you raise your voice, I'll erase your |
| 1:38.5 | voice. And he felt, you could see he felt proud saying that. He felt very powerful. And so this has been a big shock for people that to realize that just standing, the terror can be random. Anybody who is seen to be opposing and the definition of opposing is now just, could be just standing around as long as you're there as a protester |
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