“I alone can fix it”

Back in 2016 Donald Trump won the Republican nomination and then the presidency by being the great disruptor. And now, following four disastrous years in the White House, he is launching his next bid, at the CPAC event in Maryland, by saying “In 2016, I declared: I am your voice. Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution. For seven years you and I have been engaged in an epic struggle to rescue our country from the people who hate it and want to absolutely destroy it. We are going to finish what we started. We’re going to complete the mission, we’re going to see this battle through to ultimate victory. We’re going to make America great again”.

Trump insists that Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine because of the US’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. “We’re going to have world war three if something doesn’t happen fast. I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent world war three.” This is the authoritarian battle cry, from a would-be dictator, that “I alone can fix it”…