Leseklick: Authoritarianism and Post-Truth Politics

[...] Trump now thinks everyone is his subordinate. He clearly wants his inner circle to be people he can make say things they know to be untrue. But he seems to love the prospect of expanding that circle: the more he can break establishment figures, from Paul Ryan to Mitt Romney, or the establishment conservative media, the greater his power will be. Why would he want people to believe an absurd lie like the one about millions of illegal voters? If we did, he’d up the ante. It’s more likely that what he wants is to test the loyalty and fealty of an ever-growing number of potential Chris Christies, seeing whether he can make them—and us—repeat a lie. He is strengthened by people who either fear him or crave a position with him more than they love the truth.

Niskanen Center - Authoritarianism and Post-Truth Politics