Is democracy in peril?

In less than a week, the United States will hold its presidential election, possibly one of the most consequential in its history.

- BOO CHANCO

Autocratic political leaders seem to be winning elections in Western democracies. The United States is probably next. Donald Trump, who has made no secret of his admiration for Adolf Hitler, may just make it back to the White House.

Trump often expressed admiration for dictators. "Dictators are the smartest people," he told Joe Rogan in an interview last week. After their summit meeting in Singapore, Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un exchanged their fondness for each other in 27 letters, which Trump described during campaign rallies as "beautiful letters."

In an interview with The New York Times, General John Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff, said: "Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he's certainly an authoritarian, and admires people who are dictators. Trump commented more than once that, 'You know, Hitler did some good things, too,'"

With all the big lies during the campaign season and his refusal to be fact-checked, it appears Trump learned political leadership from Hitler's playbook.

Warnings from American military and civilian leaders who worked with Trump in his first term seem to have no effect on his cult following among voters. American democracy, as the world has known it, may grind to a screeching halt.

American democratic institutions managed to hold up during Trump's first term. As a Washington Post columnist puts it, "In his first term, the respected 'adults' around him not only blocked some of his most dangerous impulses but also kept them hidden from the public."