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Evan McMullin: Trump’s actions consistent with ‘authoritarian playbook’

by Rebecca Savransky - 12/05/16 9:00 AM ET

Former independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin is blasting Donald Trump in a new op-ed, calling the president-elect’s actions “consistent with the authoritarian playbook he uses.”

{mosads}In the piece published Monday in The New York Times, McMullin slammed Trump for his lack of knowledge about the Constitution and said the president-elect’s campaign rhetoric “had demonstrated authoritarian tendencies.”

McMullin pointed to comments made by Trump, such as threatening the freedom of the press and promising the use of torture.

“There is little indication that anything has changed since Election Day. Last week, Mr. Trump commented on Twitter that flag-burning should be punished by jailing and revocation of citizenship,” McMullin wrote.

“As someone who has served this country, I carry no brief for flag-burners, but I defend their free-speech right to protest — a right guaranteed under the First Amendment. Although I suspect that Mr. Trump’s chief purpose was to provoke his opponents, his action was consistent with the authoritarian playbook he uses.”

McMullin also criticized the president-elect for his claim that he would have won the popular vote if “you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”

“This, too, is nothing new. Authoritarians often exaggerate their popular support to increase the perception of their legitimacy,” McMullin wrote.

“But the deeper objective is to weaken the democratic institutions that limit their power. Eroding confidence in voting, elections and representative bodies gives them a freer hand to wield more power.”

McMullin, a former CIA officer, said he had seen authoritarians around the world use similar tactics.

“In our nation, power is shared, checked and balanced precisely to thwart would-be autocrats,” McMullin wrote.

“But as we become desensitized to the notion that Mr. Trump is the ultimate authority, we may attribute less importance to the laws, norms and principles that uphold our system of government, which protects our rights. Most dangerously, we devalue our own worth and that of our fellow Americans.”

McMullin called for a “new era of civic engagement that will reawaken us to the cause of liberty and equality.” He said the country can’t let the president-elect “normalize the idea that he is the ultimate arbiter of our rights.”

“Those who can will need to speak out boldly and suffer possible retaliation. Others will need to offer hands of kindness and friendship across the traditional political divide, as well as to those who may become targets because of who they are or what they believe,” he wrote.

“Those who understand the cause are called to the work, which I hope will unify and bless our nation in time.”

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