General Discussion

Fear and intolerance have been exploited by many dictators to gain and hold on to power throughout history. Any responsible leader understands that these factors *can* be used to sway populations, but they also understand the dangers that come with doing so.

In recent history, American presidents have dabbled in such behavior (see George W. Bush and the anti-gay marriage campaign of 2004, say, or the numerous "immigrants are coming to get you" campaigns that have been run over the decades). But no American president that I can think of has come close to going "full Hitler" in the way that Trump has. George W. Bush never openly discussed locking up his political opponents, for example. Even when he was engaging in bigoted campaigning, there was always the sense that "bipartisanship" was important, and that politics should remain generally "normal." There were certain norms and standards that politicians were expected to uphold.

Without the massive influx of unregulated dark money and propaganda over the past 10 years, laying the groundwork for the collapse of trust in mainstream media and the sense that nobody knows what's real or fake any more, I wonder if Trump would have made it to where he is now.