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One of a oddest recurring things about the Trump presidency is the lack of clarity about whether he& #39;s on the verge of becoming a dictator or incredibly weak. The answer is both. (Short thread) 1/
Presidents have at least two powers: making the government do stuff and shaping public opinion. On the first, Trump is quite weak and ineffective. That& #39;s very clear in the current crisis, when the federal response has been so much more minimal than what we see in the states. 2/
But on the latter -- shaping public opinion -- Trump is incredibly powerful. He does this with his words, not his deeds. Tweets like those this morning about the need to "liberate" states trying to contain a pandemic are incredibly poisoning. 3/
However many people in this country strongly support him (20%? 30%?) love this stuff. Just as they love him saying he can do anything as president and can dismiss Congress and appoint judges at will. 4/
He doesn& #39;t actually do these things, but he prepares part of the country to accept it if he or a later POTUS does do it. He& #39;s softening up a part of the country for tyranny. Of course it also "triggers" people like me. And that& #39;s wildly entertaining to Trump& #39;s admirers too. 5/
It also leads some of us to overreact -- as if Trump were actually *doing* the things he merely *says* -- and that delights his supporters even more, because it confirms their deepest conviction, which is that "the media" is treasonously dishonest and anti-American. 6/
