Rachel Maddow did not sugarcoat it for viewers: The MSNBC anchor warned viewers that the United States is not headed towards an authoritarian state under President Donald Trump: “We are there. It is here.”
“Life in the United States is profoundly changing and is profoundly different than it was even six months ago,” the anchor said Monday night on “The Rachel Maddow Show.” “Because we do now live in a country that has an authoritarian leader in charge, we have a consolidating dictatorship in our country.”
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Maddow went on to paint the picture of what she called a caricature of an authoritarian state. She mentioned secret police, prison camps and individuals fired for speaking a truth that does not please their authoritarian leader.
“We’re beyond waiting and seeing now. It is clear what’s going on,” she said. “We have crossed a line. We are in a place we did not want to be, but we are there.”
She pointed to immigration raids happening nationwide, comparing ICE agents with masked secret police, even referring to immigrants as “the scapegoated enemy on whom all things must be blamed and against whom all things are justified.” Another element she raised was that Trump has turned military force inward on the American people.
In addition to acts of violence against Americans, Maddow noted that under this authoritarian rule protests must be criminalized and media must be intimidated into saying and doing what the leader wants. She added that top universities and law firms are also subject to funding cuts if they do not bow to the president.
And if you release facts to the contrary of the president, be careful.
“Because he said it, then it must be true, and if you say otherwise then you will be fired,” Maddow said.
Maddow’s exchange was not all doom and gloom though. She raised the question of what can Americans do now, six months into Trump’s presidency.
“We are never going to have more resources to fight for our country than we do right now,” she said, as funding cuts and consolidation leave rights and resources on the table.
She applauded Americans using tools at their disposal, like filming secret police, peacefully protesting and holding local elected officials accountable.
Watch the full video here:
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