“An authoritarianism scholar explains how Mussolini used assassination attempts on his life to gain power — and how Donald Trump could do the same,” Politico says.
An opinion piece published by far-left outlet Politico claims former President Donald Trump may try to “gain power” by exploiting the assassination attempt against him as Italian dictator Benito Mussolini once did.
“Assassination attempts are an effort to change a political order in one fell swoop. But history shows that they often backfire, and more often serve not to eliminate a strongman, but to strengthen him and his cult of personality. Mussolini showed how that’s done,” wrote New York University history professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Saturday.
Opinion: An authoritarianism scholar explains how Mussolini used assassination attempts on his life to gain power — and how Donald Trump could do the samehttps://t.co/fPjakWNHoY
— POLITICO (@politico) August 3, 2024
She described how Mussolini had used the media to play up the attempt on his life in 1926 after a bullet grazed his nose while giving a speech.
For Fascists, the leader did not just represent the nation, as in democratic tradition, but physically embodied it. He took the hits for the nation, and so his wounds were his own, but also belonged to the people on whose behalf he toiled.
That is why Mussolini, a journalist by training who attended to every detail of his image, posed for pictures after the attack, the bandage becoming a kind of badge of honor. And it is why each failed attempt became fodder for his personality cult by seeming to prove his macho toughness, resilience and invincibility. “The bullets pass, Mussolini remains,” the Italian leader wrote of the assassination attempts in his 1928 autobiography.
Ben-Ghiat then suggested that Trump would have likely cracked down on press freedoms and banned opposition parties if he was in power when he was shot, but admitted “we can’t know for sure.”
The history of Mussolini’s consolidation of power and the attacks that punctuated that process carry lessons for our understanding of the mentality and methods of Donald Trump after the attempt on his life at a rally last month.
The comparison between Mussolini and Trump can be overstated, and for one thing, Trump is not in power at the moment. He is an aspiring strongman, but we can’t know for sure how he would have reacted had the shooting occurred when he was in the White House, and whether he would have used it to crack down on critics or expand his authority.
What is clear already is that the assassination attempt has made Trump’s personality cult more robust and more powerful for his followers. His claims of being a victim targeted on their behalf are now more credible and his persona cemented as an indomitable fighter. And he knows it.
Ben-Ghiat went on to argue that Trump’s decision to defiantly pump his fist into the air after he was shot was not so much an act of bravery as it was a calculated public relations ploy to appease his “personality cult.”
Familiarity with the behavior of strongmen gives Trump’s actions in the dramatic minutes after he was shot a crucial frame of reference. Most people in that situation would have had the instinct to flee to safety. Not Trump, who told the Secret Service agents to “wait, wait” so he could put his shoes on, expose his face, arm and hand to the cameras and crowd, and deliver the fist pump and “fight, fight, fight” message that immediately created an iconic image.
With that gesture, Trump tended to his personality cult, reassuring millions of his devoted followers that he had survived and was unbeaten — just as Mussolini did with his photo almost 100 years before. That Republicans at the GOP convention began attaching white bandages to their ear in honor of Trump’s own wound would surely have impressed Mussolini.
Predictably, Politico’s Pravda-like op-ed was soundly ratioed on X.
“Politico is simultaneously calling for more assassination attempts on Trump and blaming them on Trump. However much you hate ‘journalists’, especially evil Democrat cowards like this, it isn’t enough,” one user said.
Politico is simultaneously calling for more assassination attempts on Trump and blaming them on Trump.
However much you hate ” journalists “, especially evil Democrat cowards like this, it isn’t enough
— Occam’s razor ≠ “conspiracy theory” (@aimtomisb3hav3) August 3, 2024
“We need a stronger term than Enemy of the People for our fake news media now. It just doesn’t cut it anymore,” another said.
We need a stronger term than Enemy of the People for our fake news media now. It just doesn’t cut it anymore.
— Shem Horne (@Shem_Infinite) August 3, 2024
“Trump getting shot at makes him Mussolini” is a new low.
You all are light years beyond contempt.
— IT Guy (@ITGuy1959) August 3, 2024
Whichever beta male or childless female wrote this must be very brave.
(I won’t click your link to find out which one it is)
— Ian Martiszus (@IanFelipeSays) August 3, 2024
@ruthbenghiat Why not just say you wish the shooter didn’t miss, Ruth?
— ?ℎ???????? (@chiIIum) August 3, 2024
Delete your entire organization
— Laughing Jae (@Laughing_Jae) August 3, 2024
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) August 3, 2024
Threat to Democracy, Hitler, now Mussolini…. If you take these outlets seriously there’s someone wrong with you.
— Space Cowboy ? (@greg_blaire) August 3, 2024
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) August 3, 2024
You fucking clowns.
— Deebs (@DeebsFLA) August 3, 2024
Another user aptly said, “This is beneath even the most partisan hack…it’s laughable. The literal authorities in charge used their power to remove protection from a candidate they despise, and he is nearly killed on live TV, and this is what you go with. One for the USSA propaganda museum.”
This is beneath even the most partisan hack… it’s laughable. The literal authorities in charge used their power to remove protection from a candidate they despise, and he is nearly killed on live TV, and this is what you go with. One for the USSA propaganda museum.
— a Johnson for the news (@newsjohnson) August 3, 2024
As we’ve reported, the media, technocrats, and Big Tech have been working overtime trying to downplay, minimize, dismiss, and censor the attempted assassination against Trump on July 13, fearing the incident would greatly elevate his profile and standing among the American people.
