The mark of the authoritarian: - Undermine the trust of the public in the sources of reliable information: the media, professional journalists, Wikipedia, universities, scientists, and government agencies. - Accuse those sources of being corrupt, woke, Marxist, fascist, beholden to powerful interests, stupid, pedophile, whatever. - Once the public is thoroughly brainwashed, fill their minds with ridiculous mind viruses: the country is bankrupt, it's being overrun by barbaric, murderous, subhumans immigrants who eat your pets and rape your daughters, our crypto-communist opponents want to take away your freedom of speech, elections are rigged, etc - Now claim: "only I can save the country from the coming Armageddon." This is a completely standard chapter from the authoritarian playbook. Almost half of Americans are falling for it, with the help of a few billionaires who are shamelessly willing to sacrifice democracy in the altar of their continued financial and political power.