The telltale signs of autocratic rule are not difficult to identify. And for American news outlets, they’re often quick to tag authoritarian leaders around the world, as they move to curb liberties, skirt existing laws, and curtail press freedoms. Why is it so many of those same news outlets refuse to use the “A” word to describe Trump, even as he mimics the actions of authoritarian rulers here at home? Why is it considered ttaboo to describe a Republican president that way, when the description is apt and informative? It’s likely because the press doesn’t want to fend off cries of “liberal media bias,” and because the press doesn’t want to break protocol with its presidential coverage. In the process they’re allowing the unthinkable to become commonplace.
