Anti-Trump author and New York University history professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat argued that the attempted assassination of former President Trump speaks “to how autocrats can use adversity to strengthen their power,” linking Trump's plight to an attempted assassination of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
In a column for Politico magazine, the author noted how both attempts cemented their appeal as dictators. She mentioned that both used photos of themselves surviving gunfights to generate more sympathy among the crowd.
“With that gesture, Trump contributed to the cult of his personality, assuring millions of his devoted followers that he had survived and had not been defeated, just as Mussolini had done with his photo almost 100 years earlier,” Ben-Ghiat wrote, adding: “The danger is what comes next.”
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Liberal author and New York University history professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat said the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump makes him even more similar to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. (Archive photos / Stringer | Brandon Bell / Staff)
He began the column by detailing the third assassination attempt on the dictator, which was carried out by an Irish-born British pacifist named Violet Gibson, who “came out of the crowd and shot him” as he walked through the streets of Rome after a speech in 1926.
Explaining how Mussolini used this incident for his own political gain, Ben-Ghiat wrote: “That is why Mussolini, a trained journalist who cared about every detail of his image, posed for photographs after the attack, and the bandage became a kind of badge of honour. And that is why each failed attempt became fodder for his personality cult by seemingly proving his macho toughness, his resilience and his invincibility.”
Then came the direct comparison to Trump, who, after being shot in the ear in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month with an AR-15 rifle that barely missed his skull, stood up and told rally-goers: “Fight, fight, fight!” The moment was captured in vivid photographs.
While Ben-Ghiat acknowledged that Trump cannot use the moment to reinforce his literal power since he is not in office, he insisted that “the assassination attempt has strengthened Trump's cult of personality and made him more powerful to his followers. His claims of being a victim attacked in their name are now more credible and his image as an indomitable fighter is cemented. And he knows it.”
“Knowledge of strongman behavior provides Trump's actions in the dramatic minutes after his shooting with a crucial frame of reference. Most people in that situation would have had the instinct to flee to safety. Trump did not,” he added.
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Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler watch a Nazi parade organised to mark the Italian dictators' visit to Germany. (Getty Images) (Fake Images)
The author went on to point out that Mussolini was able to take advantage of the attempt on his life to consolidate more power in Italy and become immune to government checks and balances. She said this is the danger that follows an attempt on a strongman, which “often reinforces the leader’s cult of personality and lends credibility to narratives about his omnipotence and the necessity of his repressive laws to keep the country safe from crime.”
Ben-Ghiat added: “This has been the case so far with Trump, whose supporters have seized on the shooting and even cited divine intervention in saving his life. The shooting also comes in a climate of heightened political violence that Trump has helped to generalize.”
He also said that “this horrific assassination attempt will validate” Trump's rhetoric that his enemies are also targeting his supporters, thus strengthening their bond and volatility. “Followers of authoritarian personality cults who are tied to the leader can become volatile when he is in trouble.”
The author concluded: “In this sense, Mussolini's bandaged nose and Trump's bandaged ear speak to how autocrats can use adversity to strengthen their power at the expense of democracy.”
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