Masha Gessen’s new book, extracted here, looks at a presidency built on a devastating abuse of powerRead an interview with Masha GessenMasha GessenSat 27 Jun 2020 17.00 BSTShares24 Illustration: Guardian DesignOne of Trump’s three rallying cries on the campaign trail – one of the three apparent components of making America great again – was “Drain the swamp” (the other two were “Lock her up” and “Build that wall”). It may have sounded like a call to battle against corruption, but it was in fact a declaration of war against the American system of government as currently constituted.The Trump campaign ran on disdain: for immigrants, for women, for disabled people, for people of colour, for Muslims – for anyone, in other words, who isn’t an able-bodied white straight American-born male – and for the elites who have coddled the Other.
Source: Since day one, Donald Trump has been an autocrat in the making | Books | The Guardian
