An article in Politico tells us that Erdogan took a decade to establish illiberal rule in Turkey, so we shouldn’t be concerned that Trump can do it in four years. Should we feel reassured?
No, because it didn’t take Hitler and Mussolini that long. If you follow the processes of liberal democracy to rot it out from the inside, it might take a decade, but if you are determined to win absolute power from the minute you take office, all you need is control over the military and something you can call an emergency. Do we know for certain that Trump won’t try that? No, we don’t.