Authoritarian Scholar Sees Disturbing Historical Echo In Trump’s Latest Boast
Lee Moran
Wed, September 24, 2025
The moment America Ceased to be Great: When It Sent a Dumb and Ugly Moron to Insult the World
Authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Tuesday drew a pointed parallel between one particular line in President Donald Trump’s wild speech at the United Nations and the propaganda tactics of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
Trump, during his address, attacked green energy and warned world leaders: “If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail.”
“And I’m really good at predicting things, you know,” he continued, citing a 2024 campaign hat emblazoned with the slogan, “Trump was right about everything.”
“I don’t say that in a braggadocious way, but it’s true,” he added. “I’ve been right about everything, and I’m telling you that if you don’t get away from the green energy scam, your country is going to fail.”
Ben-Ghiat, the author of “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present,” highlighted on X, formerly Twitter, how Trump’s rhetoric echoed the fascist slogan in Mussolini’s Italy of “Mussolini is always right.”
"Mussolini is always right," was the Fascist slogan. https://t.co/D2sv2F3xNI
— Ruth Ben-Ghiat (@ruthbenghiat) September 23, 2025
Ben-Ghiat, a New York University history professor, has previously described Trump’s administration as being characterized by “personalist rule” in which “everybody becomes a personal tool to the leader.”
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