I wrote about Trump's obsession with the 2020 election and what we should pay attention to on Thursday night — The Big Lie, Foreign Interference Edition. Read my full essay at my Substack, Lucid.Substack.Com

LUCID Trump's Obsession With Undoing His 2020 Defeat Every authoritarian leader has a central obsession that comes to occupy propaganda and policy. Trump's is fixing the system so he never loses aqain Ruth Ben-Ghiat @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social July 15, 2026 open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/...

took another look at the “Coup Power Point” on “election fraud, foreign interference & options for 6 Jan” cooked up by Col. Phil Waldron … made its way to then-CoS Mark Meadows & was presented to several members of Congress on 1/5/21 to justify imminent “events” - @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social

#Democracy #Election2026 An insightful take on our situation, well worth a few minutes to watch. @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social

Not sure if you happened to catch Thursday's episode of The Daily. I was interviewed and talked about the extraordinary ways President Trump and his family have monetized the White House, based on a decade of reporting on the Trump family. Please listen & share www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/p...

My latest about corruption — this time about the particular role sons-in-law, like Jared Kushner, have played throughout history and why we should pay attention to them. open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/...

KF Senior Fellow @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social warns that authoritarian corruption depends not only on those who abuse power, but also on the institutions that enable them. Her latest Lucid essay examines the Supreme Court’s role in weakening checks on presidential power. https://bit.ly/4ffNoBF

Perfect time to be reading @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social Stoking in-group fighting is one of the most effective authoritarian techniques. The fact that the left isn’t laser-focused on Trump’s $2 billion+ earnings as president, but treats it as a shrug, says everything about where we’re at.

Strongmen, Oligarchs, & Fascists: Thinking Live with Ruth Ben-Ghiat @timothysnyder.bsky.social and @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social #USA #Trump #uspoli open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...

@ruthbenghiat.bsky.social is very good here, trying to pause and rethink the conceptual difference between T & his flunkies in relation to the traditional Strongmen that she studied so carefully before.

Can’t think of 2 better humans @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social @timothysnyder.bsky.social to talk about, and try to make sense of the shit show we are living through. open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/...

Join us now at Snyder.substack.com!

Join me in conversation with @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social on "Thinking Live" for a conversation about the state of democracy at home and abroad. Today, June 15th, 3pm ET snyder.substack.com

I was pleased to be with @aliciamenendez.bsky.social for the premiere of her new @msnowreports.bsky.social show!

My problem with the White House thunderdome isn’t that it’s “vulgar,” or “tacky,” qualities I often enjoy & terms which are often crudely classist when used pejoratively. My problem, as always, is the fascism. Don’t get distracted by taste, which is deeply subjective; it’s the fascism.

2 important things about today's column 1st, we need to talk about how insane it is that Elon Musk abused his X platform to whip up violent race riots in Belfast, and yet 3 days later becomes the world's 1st trillionaire. How is this real? 2nd, also important... www.inquirer.com/opinion/elon...

Hello from the Tribeca Film Festival!

Your money — whether it’s a 401K, a pension, or a college endowment — is now tied up in Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Guess who will be stuck holding the bag when the rocket crashes?

From @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social: "Every autocracy has a central ideological mission. The current United States government wants to transform America from a multiracial democracy into a White Christian male-dominated ethnostate."

Very important read from @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social today on the efforts of today's MAGA movement to transform the US into a White Christian male-dominated ethnostate. 👉 lucid.substack.com/p/a-holistic...

"Not one, but two David-vs-Goliath victories." Human rights advocates extraordinaire Robin Broad & John Cavanagh, authors of THE WATER DEFENDERS, talk with @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social about why this story of grassroots activism is so instructive for the current moment. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUJ4...

The Dark Neuroscience of Trump Propaganda "When you twinned fear with disgust... you can move people to violence." On "America at a Crossroads," historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat uses neuroscience to expose how authoritarians trigger long-lasting emotions in the brain. @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social

Hardly a new enemy. See the machismo and misogyny chapter of #Strongmen.

Dictators Become Obsessed With This One Thing "They are obsessed with bunkers, with palaces..." Author and historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat explains a classic symptom of the autocrat's decline: the "bunker stage." @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social

Again, please share. In every aspect of American history you will run smack dab into the critical contributions of Black people. It’s not Black history. It’s American history. Trying to erase it is a fool’s errand. We live it every day. time.com/5836444/blac...

KF Senior Fellow @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social joined the PoliticsGirl podcast to discuss the current state of authoritarianism in America and why giving up on elections is exactly what autocrats want: https://bit.ly/4fAzQ4j

Well, they work for and are loyal to the same person- one is just smoother but is equally responsible for every death abroad caused by this administration

Business leaders need to engage more on indirect spillover threats from malign influence campaigns. Most focus, if any, is on direct threats. However, I think the greatest risks are from systemic spillover sparked by disinformation aimed at other targets.

Below is a statement from the unionized workers of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

💯

Important investigation- national policy bends to the will of billionaires if the Trump clan will make $ from it

University of Virginia's Maximilian Brichta discussed disinformation and deception in decentralized finance (DeFi) and crypto at the Cambridge Disinformation Summit. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgjW...

Some news...I am writing a book on resistance for @vikingbooks.bsky.social!

"we negotiate through bombs" - Hegseth

Tens of thousands chant “Russians, go home!” at tonight’s anti-Orbán concert in Budapest’s Heroes’ Square ahead of Sunday’s Hungarian election.

Disaster Fascism: two frames for considering Trump's threat to annihilate Iran. open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/...

Tennessee gave $65 million to Oracle to create jobs— guess we should have specified they be jobs for Americans🫤 Trump’s buddy Ellison is firing Americans and replacing them with foreign workers. (And now owns TikTok, CBS, CNN, etc) Watch oligarchy work. nationaltoday.com/us/tx/austin...

When elected officials are corrupt, citizens participate less in the democratic process and lose faith in government. That’s why anticorruption reforms are urgently needed. bit.ly/4v4xuQy

Holy New York.

KF Senior Fellow@ruthbenghiat.bsky.social has spent years studying authoritarianism, and her warning here is clear: when authoritarians feel threatened, they often become more reckless and dangerous. Democracy depends on recognizing these patterns and refusing to let recklessness go unanswered.

I wrote a lot about Bob Mueller across a lot of chapters of his career. I wanted to share two @wired.com pieces that I wrote about his defining life experiences—both a picture of an era of public service all but lost today: 1) His brave *voluntary* service in Vietnam: www.wired.com/story/robert...

shared values

The full interview with Diane Benscoter is available on the Cambridge Disinformation Summit YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-j3...

Great conversation with @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social & @wajali.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/thelefth...

Solidarity with @kschake.bsky.social. The US military gains nothing from this systematic banning of scholars. It snacks of fear of facts- another sign that there is a design of ideological indoctrination.

The job *was* to wreck and purge, just like Musk and DOGE. All revolutions need these people.

Americans are dying so that Kushner can make money

Yesterday, I confronted Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, for planning the January 6 attack…then I got taken away by Capitol police.