Is Trump trying to kill us? Authoritarian expert says yes. Here’s how

There are five key areas that authoritarians want to control when they attempt to decapitate a democratic state, authoritarian expert and author Timothy Snyder writes: health, law, administration, defense and intelligence.
And in each of these arenas, the goal is to consolidate power, create chaos — and yes, even death. Authoritarians with power over these areas, Snyder says, “can make America impossible to sustain.”
In each instance, deaths are possible. And it’s not far-fetched to say that’s president-elect Donald Trump’s goal. Here’s Snyder’s reasoning:
“The foundation of modern democratic state is a healthy, long-lived population,” Snyder writes in his latest newsletter. “We lived longer in the twentieth century because of hygiene and vaccinations, pioneered by scientists and physicians and then institutionalized by governments. We treat one another better when we know we have longer lives to lose.”
If Robert F. Kennedy Jr. becomes the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, and his anti-vaccine ideology and conspiracy theories on health are implemented, many will die, Snyder insists.
Trump’s bungling of Covid in his first term led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, but in this term, deaths would be even more sinister.
A modern democratic state depends upon the rule of law and people who believe in the spirit of law, Snyder writes. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s proposed attorney general, embodies lawlessness, and “can be counted upon to abuse the law to pursue Trump’s political opponents.”
The end of the rule of law gives an authoritarian absolute power, and people — his enemies or scapegoated and/or targeted groups, like undocumented immigrants, will die.
While bureaucracy often is annoying, its absence, though, can be deadly. Americans cannot take the pollution out of the air themselves, or build the highways, or write Social Security checks.
But Trump plans to replace civil servants wth loyalists, which would put more power into the hands of the authoritarian. The rich will benefit from their connections, while the rest of us will be out in the cold, Snyder writes — and “engineered helplessness” promised by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will decide which agencies stay or go and which are to be gutted. In the end, there will be casualties.
Trump will weaken the United States’ defense by appointing an inexperienced sycophant as Secretary of Defense, disbanding NATO and cuddling with powerful adversaries whose goal is to sabotage our country, Snyder says.
In a world of hostile powers, that could mean deaths in our armed forces and/or among our allies, like Ukraine.
As adversaries find new ways to attack the U.S., intelligence is crucial, and Tulsi Gabbard, a known spreader of Syrian and Russian disinformation, has no relevant experience, Snyder writes.
If she became director of national intelligence, as Trump proposes, the U.S. would lose the trust of our allies, and lose our window into what is happening in the world. Being vulnerable to enemies who wish us harm likely will lead to deaths — of armed forces, intelligence officers and others.
“Each appointment is part of a larger picture,” Snyder writes. “Taken together, Trump’s candidates constitute an attempt to wreck the American government.”
While some Trump supporters voted to burn it all down, they should realize one thing, Snyder writes: “If it all burns down, we burn, too.”
Former GOP strategist Stuart Stevens tweeted a similar theory:
“Those who listen to RFK Jr. and follow his guidelines/advice will be less healthy and die at higher rates. Their children will be less healthy with lifelong problems. (See studies of children who have fluoridated water and those who do not.)
“The less educated will be more likely to listen to this nut. They will suffer in highly predictable ways that will reduce their earning potential and ability to advance economically. They will slide further behind the more educated who do not oppose vaccinations and fluorinated water.
“I suppose this is what they voted for but wonder if they will regret it as the health divide deepens.”
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