Trump Campaign Hits Back Against ‘Dictator’ Hit-Piece In WaPo, Gaetz Says ‘Green-Lighting Assassination’

Over the last week, several outlets published articles warning that a second Trump term would turn America into a dictatorship.

The Washington Post most notably ran a piece written by Robert Kagan, husband of Former State Department official Victoria Nuland (who was deeply involved in peddling the Steele dossier) titled “A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending.”

Many suggested this was a clear call to assassinate the former US President.

Let’s stop the wishful thinking and face the stark reality: There is a clear path to dictatorship in the United States, and it is getting shorter every day. In 13 weeks, Donald Trump will have locked up the Republican nomination.

…

[…] Are we going to do anything about it? To shift metaphors, if we thought there was a 50 percent chance of an asteroid crashing into North America a year from now, would we be content to hope that it wouldn’t? Or would we be taking every conceivable measure to try to stop it, including many things that might not work but that, given the magnitude of the crisis, must be tried anyway?

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said in response on X, “They’re obviously green-lighting assassination.”

They’re obviously green-lighting assassination. pic.twitter.com/rSocx7WFKc

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 4, 2023

In addition to the post, The Atlantic and the NY Times have also published stories warning of a “Trump dictatorship” in recent days, with the Times suggesting that a second Trump term would likely be more radical than his first, The Hill reports.

“All of these articles calling Trump a dictator are about one thing: legitimizing illegal and violent conduct as we get closer to the election,” wrote Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) on X. “Everyone needs to take a chill pill.”

All of these articles calling Trump a dictator are about one thing: legitimizing illegal and violent conduct as we get closer to the election.

Everyone needs to take a chill pill.

— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) December 4, 2023

“It’s August 2016 all over again. Skyrocketing cost of health care has millions worried. President Trump’s Dem. opponent off the campaign trail & hiding from the press,” wrote senior Trump adviser Jason Miller on X, adding “Dems & their media allies have given up on debating issues & have shifted to name-calling & rhetorical fearmongering.”

Trump campaign responds

“This is nothing more than another version of the media’s failed and false Russia collusion hoax,” said Trump spox Steven Cheung, referring to The Atlantic‘s project to devote their January/February issue to analyzing what a second Trump term would mean for immigration, civil rights, the Justice Department, climate and more.

Other Trump allies similarly chimed in, with Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) saying that the Atlantic is using “the same hysterical scare tactics from 2016 & 2020 to attack Trump,” while Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) said in response to WaPo that the left has gone into “FULL PANIC Mode,” and said that instead – a second Trump term would mean “the end of dictators in America, NOT the beginning.”

Meanwhile Trump’s detractors, such as Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), told MSNBC last month that a second Trump term “would look a lot like Viktor Orban in Hungary — illiberal democracy, meaning democracy without rights, or liberties, or respect for the due process, the system, the rule of law.”

Liz in the wings

This was hard to write with a straight face… Liz Cheney on Tuesday even floated the idea of running as a 3rd party candidate to disrupt Trump’s momentum.

“I certainly hope to play a role in helping to ensure that the country has … a new, fully conservative part,” she told USA Today, adding “And so whether that means restoring the current Republican Party, which … looks like a very difficult if not impossible task, or setting up a new party, I do hope to be involved and engaged in that.”

“I think that the situation that we’re in is so grave, and the politics of the moment require independents and Republicans and Democrats coming together in a way that can help form a new coalition, so that may well be a third-party option,” she continued.

Talk about delusions of grandeur!