Trump Supporters Want a Dictatorship

I used to think that Trump supporters were wrong. Only in the past year have I come to the realization that they're not wrong, they're lying. They're gaslighting, just as their leader does, and for the same reason: they want the dictatorship as well. They've been fighting for this from day 1 of the campaign, and it isn't stopping now. 

Before I delve further into this, I should make clear that, in my rational brain, I know that it is in fact a small minority of Trump voters who would actually want a dictatorship. Most had various reasons, I'm sure, to vote for him, but wouldn't support a literal autocratic takeover as it was happening. Having said that, I'm angry right now, and I'm going to refer to "Trump supporters" even though I really mean that small contingent of the staunchest die-hards. Having gotten that out of the way, Trump supporters are fighting for a dictatorship.

They don't believe these ridiculous allegations of mass voter fraud or some vast left-wing conspiracy to rig the elections. They know, just as the rest of us do, that there's no evidence of significant voter fraud, and that cheating on such an enormous scale is next to impossible in the US, given the safeguards in place. They're also well aware, just as the rest of us are, that every time thus far that Trump has brought voter fraud allegations into a US court he's been defeated (see this). His only victories have been in lawsuits regarding minor issues, such as keeping certain ballots segregated. Whether the judges were liberal or conservative, they ruled against the side that alleged, with absolutely no evidence whatsoever, large amounts of fraud. Those staunch Trump supporters are also quite cognizant of the reason for the so-called "red mirage", understanding as well as we do that, because the mail-in votes took much longer to count, and because a hugely disproportionate number of Democrats voted by mail, it was always going to appear like Trump was winning on election night. The gap would be closed with the mail-in votes. Trumpsters, as I like to refer to them, know all of this. But every hostile act requires an excuse, and this is their excuse. In this baseless allegation they see an opportunity to launch an autocratic assault on our constitutional republic. They want a Trump dictatorship, and so they're fighting for it.

Trump has betrayed his autocratic nature since the beginning of his 2016 campaign. He alleged fraud even in the 2016 election --  the one he won --  and ordered an investigation. Said investigation found, of course, no evidence, and was then disbanded (source), but that didn't stop his gaslighting. His followers are smart enough to know this, and their failure to admit it is a result not of ignorance but of sinister motives. 

Trump encouraged violence against his hecklers at his rallies in the 2016 campaign, and even offered to pay the legal fees of anyone arrested for this violence. Of course, the Trumpsters would call that "fake news," but they can't really think it's fake news because they've surely seen this and heard this shit with their very own eyes and ears. I don't think they think these are all deep fake videos. I don't believe Trump has yet enjoyed that final Orwellian totalitarian victory in which the state's subjects no longer believe their very own eyes and ears. They are aware that he did this. And he continued this behavior into his presidency, even defending Kyle Rittenhouse. 

Throughout his presidency, Trump has clearly and often openly betrayed his autocratic intentions. He literally says these things, out loud, in words. He's complained about the constitutional separation of powers because they limited his powers. He's declared that he has "absolute authority" in cases when he clearly did not. He's worked hard to thoroughly discredit any media critical of him, and even screamed "the media is the enemy of the people," which is step 1 in any autocratic takeover. He's openly complained about the legality of any criticism. He doesn't hide any of this. He more or less admits it, so how can his supporters still deny it?