Historian/propagand expert:
"Some of the through lines are the same as the right-wing playbook for 100 years and where the GOP and Russian far-right are converging. One of them is that liberal democracy is a failed system and brings chaos and anarchy and, so, you are trying to build an appetite for authoritarian rule," said Ben-Ghiat. "And another is that liberal democracy is tyranny. So, we hear talk of Biden being a dictator and wanting to impose a dictatorship and he's going to take our guns away and make us wear masks and force-feed critical race theory."
"So, there you have the GOP which poses — and this is where Jan. 6th becomes an act of patriotism," she continued. "They pose as defenders of freedom. And I'm also concerned about the military. There's a retired military issued a letter where they said our constitutional rights were threatened and the nation was in peril. It's like coup talk. And some of it reminds me of what I used to see in Chile before the coup there. This is all concerning and propaganda connects with violence and it justifies violence. The GOP has become a far-right party using disinformation and violence and renders them acceptable ways of doing politics. This is the bottom line."
