“Trump Is an Authoritarian Autocrat Who Wants To Be a Dictator”: Trump Praises the “Fierce” Strength of Foreign Dictators in Iowa Speech

Michelle MeyerNov 24, 2023

Minute Read

Criminal defendant Donald Trump has praised Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Hungarian President Viktor Orbán during a campaign rally in Iowa. Given his history of admiring dictators, people are concerned.

Praising Foreign Dictators

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Trump described Xi Jinping as a “great guy” and said he’s “fierce” and “smart.” He praised Putin and Orbán, hailing them as among the “strongest leaders” globally. The former president went on to boast about a conversation with Abdul Ghani Baradar, a Taliban leader in Afghanistan, who allegedly referred to him as “your excellency.”

Donald Trump’s Words

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“Now, the press doesn’t like it when I say good things about [Xi]. What can I say? He runs 1.4 billion people with an iron hand,” Trump said. Regarding Abdul Ghani Baradar, he claimed: “He called me ‘your excellency.’ I wonder if he calls Biden ‘your excellency.’”

Biden Criticism and False Election Claims

Throughout his speech, Trump criticized Biden, calling him a “Manchurian candidate” and repeating baseless claims about the 2020 election being stolen. He said the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was the “worst period of time” in the country’s history and claimed Biden was “weaponizing law enforcement for high-level election interference.”

Policy Without Personality

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Trump also targeted his rivals within the Republican Party, particularly Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. He dismissed the idea of implementing Trump policy without his personality, emphasizing that his policies would not work without his leadership. He said: “A lot of people would say, ‘We want Trump policy without Trump because we don’t like his personality.’ Here’s the problem – Trump policy doesn’t work without Trump because they’re never going to be able to get it.”

A Tiny Little Desk

Trump went on to outline his plans for the first day back in office, discussing the border wall, a travel ban for “terror-plagued countries,” and implementing “strong ideological screening on all immigrants.” He expressed his intention to sign “four or five” executive orders, potentially on a “tiny little desk” on the Capitol steps during the inauguration.

Crowd Reception and Poll Numbers

As Trump finished his speech, he received enthusiastic applause and cheers from attendees. He signed hats and shirts for supporters at the front rows. Trump maintains a significant lead in national polls for the GOP nomination, with a 40-percentage-point gap between him and his closest competitors.

The Internet’s Response

News of Trump’s speech and his praise for dictators was shared across the internet and people rushed to comment sections to give their views on the matter. For the most part, they claimed that he clearly aims to follow in the footsteps of those he expressed admiration for.

Donald Trump’s Fans

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The former president’s supporters were greatly outnumbered in most discussions, so much so that their comments were hard to come by. When they did appear, they often denied that Trump made the speech and turned the conversation to Biden, criticizing him instead.

Trump Doesn’t Care

One social media commenter said: “He’s getting increasingly poor at hiding his fascism and you know why? He no longer even cares. He fully understands the cult members would still vote for him if he said tomorrow, ‘I love Hitler.’ Absolutely 100% every Trumper would still vote for him.”

A Vote Against the Constitution

Another person wrote: “Trump praises fellow dictators, yet says Democrats hate democracy. Amazing how followers don’t see the contradictions. It was Trump who made multiple efforts to subvert the last election. His own courts agreed there was no evidence of mass fraud in multiple cases. His own people repeatedly told Trump there was no fraud. Trump admitted in private he had lost yet lied to the American public in an effort to cause an uprising. Support for Trump is a vote against our Constitution.”

An Iron Hand

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One individual expressed concerns about how Trump would lead the country if he was elected again: “Now we know how he wants to run the U.S. if he becomes president again – with an iron hand and take away freedoms like Xi has done in China.”

The Weakest President

Another person called the former president naive: “Trump thinks these dictators respect him. Little does he know that they think him a fool who can be manipulated. Trump is a laughingstock. The clown in the room and most certainly the weakest and dumbest president in American history.”

The Actual Vermin

One commenter, referring to how Trump recently called his political opponents “vermin,” said: “Here we have an article about the actual vermin in our country. His name is Donald Trump… he is anti-American in every way possible.”

A Wannabe Dictator

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Plenty of people accused the former president of wanting to be a dictator. One such individual wrote: “Trump would praise foreign dictators because he wants to be one of them. Americans will never give him a chance. He was a disaster for four long years. Never again.”

Party Before Country

Echoing the aforementioned commenter, another person said: “Trump is a fascist, authoritarian autocrat who wants to be a dictator. The cult 45 MAGA morons will follow this idiot to the end. Republicans are party before country. Americans have had enough of this stupidity.”

Trump Admires Dictators

Others pointed to the former president’s long history of admiring dictators: “Trump has always admired dictators – and this is exactly what his cult wants… a dictator to tell the rest of us what to do and when to do it. America is brimming over with inferior, weak-minded people who view Trump as some kind of hero. Never in our history have we seen the kind of depravity that surrounds Donald Trump. It’s really depressing.”

America’s First Dictator

One person questioned whether or not Republicans realize that Trump seemingly wants an authoritarian system in the United States: “Every speech Trump makes is all about him wanting to be our very first dictator and the stupid Republicans either want this too or are just too dumb to realize it.”

A MAGA Opinion

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While most commenters criticized Trump, his fans did make appearances from time to time to weigh in. “Would love to read the real speech instead of this made-up version by the lying left-wing media. You can bet that it is a completely different speech. More tactical lies made from the left-wing media for pure revenge and hate,” one said.