After weeks of drawing comparisons between Donald Trump and his supporters to Nazi Germany, many in the news media have moved on to parallel the Republican front-runner to Latin-American dictators.
On Thursday, Politico published a column declaring that Trump’s social media activity is reminiscent of Latin-American politics. “Donald Trump tweets like a Latin-American strongman,” the headline said.
“Trump’s outsize personality and xenophobic tendencies cause regular comparisons to fascists like Hitler and Mussolini, from figures as varied as comedian Louis C.K. and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto,” wrote Gillian Brassil, the author. “Far fewer have explored the connections between Trump and Latin-American leftists like Kirchner and Maduro — or their ideological forefathers, Juan Peron and Hugo Chavez.”
A story the previous day on CNN’s website said Trump is “eerily similar to Latin America’s macho leaders.”
“Even if Trump’s proposals aren’t all populist, his tactics parallel those used by Latin America’s authoritarian tough guys,” it said. “They all appeal to those who feel marginalized and are often working class or poor.”
Trump’s campaign has largely been centered on his strength in tone, appealing with great effect to white, working-class voters who have seen their economic standing and political influence quickly erode in recent years.
The billionaire developer’s most common refrains at his campaign mega-rallies and in media interviews are to “build a wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border that would supposedly keep out illegal immigrants who drive down wages and to renegotiate international trade deals that are more advantageous to American manufacturing companies.
But Trump also regularly takes a borderline hostile tone toward foreigners and anyone — journalists and reporters especially — who criticizes his candidacy.
That quality is encapsulated by Trump when, confronted by a protestor at one of his rallies, he yells for security to “get ’em out of here.”
Some in the news media have adopted a Spanish word to characterize the former reality TV star.
“America gets its own caudillo,” said a headline at Politico on Wednesday.
A “caudillo” is a militant political leader.
“Across the continent, Donald Trump has struck a jangly nerve of recognition among people who see something all too familiar in the possibility of a Presidente Trump — an addition to the long line of democratically elected, populist autocrats who have reigned [in Latin America] for decades,” read Politico’s story on Wednesday. “They see up north the rise of a true, North American caudillo.”
On March 6, Wall Street Journal columnist Mary O’Grady warned, “Mr. Trump believes the rule of law is for pansies. His fans adore him because he promises to override institutional inertia and simply decree whatever is on his mind, like a caudillo. This won’t end well.”
Two days later, the Journal ran a news article with the same theme.
“Donald Trump is something new to the American political landscape,” it said. “But to many in Latin America he is — stylistically, at least — a far more familiar figure: the caudillo, or authoritarian populist.”
