Republicans Are Cool With Trump Being a ‘Dictator’—But Don’t Worry, Only ‘For a Day’

We already know Donald Trump supporters wouldn’t care if he shot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue, so I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked to learn that they’re also totally cool with Trump saying he’d like to be a dictator if he’s elected for a second term in November—but just for one day. A smidgen of autocracy, as a treat for MAGA voters.

In December, Trump began repeating this line on social media after first saying it during an interview with Sean Hannity at a town hall event in Iowa. And in a new survey, a shocking number of voters revealed they’d be cool with it: 74% of Republicans and 39% of Americans think it’d be fine for Trump to be a dictator on day one of his second term. Only 26% of Republicans said it’d be a bad thing.

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. Maybe I should be so jaded that the fact that only three-quarters of GOP voters would be chill with Supreme Leader Trump is actually good news. But I’m not, and I’m alarmed!!

The survey, conducted between January 25 and 30 by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and YouGov, specifically asked the 1,064 respondents: “Donald Trump recently said that if elected, he would be a dictator only on the first day of his second term. Do you think that this is a good or bad idea for the country?”

Sure, it’s a small sample size but I’d expect 100% of everyone to say that anyone being a dictator—regardless of the length of time—would be a bad thing. Call me crazy, I guess.

Fifteen percent said it’d be “definitely good” for the U.S. if Trump were made dictator and 24% said it was “probably good.” Sixty-seven percent of women, 82% of African Americans, and 91% of people who voted for Biden in 2020 supporters all said it was “definitely bad” or “probably bad.” (Are people not understanding the question? Do 100% of people not think dictators are 100% bad??)

At the town hall event in December, Hannity asked Trump: “Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?”

“Except for day one,” Trump responded. “I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill.”

Trump then immediately doubled down, in case anyone misinterpreted what he just said. “We love this guy,” Trump said. “[Hannity] says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border, and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’”

A few days later, Trump was at it again. “[Peter] Baker today in the New York Times said that I want to be a dictator,” he said at the New York Young Republican Club Gala. “I didn’t say that. I said I want to be a dictator for one day. You know why I wanted to be a dictator? Because I want a wall, and I want to drill, drill, drill.” (To be clear: We still have no idea what the fuck he wants to “drill, drill, drill.”)

Trump is currently facing 91 felony charges, which include four state and federal criminal indictments—and he was recently ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $83 million following a second defamation trial concerning fucked up comments Trump made following Carroll’s public allegation that Trump raped her in a dressing room in the ’90s. (Last year, in the first defamation trial, a jury found that Trump sexually abused Carroll.)

I’m sure everyone responding to the dictator question believes that Trump would adhere to the 24-hour time limit so, fuck it, let’s give it a try. I’m sure that’s exactly how every era of truly successful democracy has started: With a lunatic having one full day—and not a minute more—of unchecked power.