Trump is not an authoritarian

Matthew C. MacWilliams writes in Politico:

One of the important lessons Americans learned from Donald Trump’s election in 2016—and one still difficult for some of us to process almost four years later—is just how many of our fellow citizens are predisposed to authoritarianism. ...

the single factor that predicted whether a Republican primary voter supported Trump over his rivals was an inclination to authoritarianism. ...

American authoritarianism will flourish if Trump wins the presidency again ...

This is so backwards that it is hard to figure out what he is writing about.

Joe Biden promises are much more authoritarian presidency. Biden says he will order a national mask mandate, while Trump says people should be free to deal with their situations. Biden promises to regulate fossil fuels out of business. Trump wants to let energy companies find markets. Biden threatens to pack the Supreme Court with leftist justices. Trump has appointed non-ideological judges who believe in enforcing the law as written.

Here is his silly quiz.

Although there are a number of qualities that people believe children should have, every person thinks that some qualities are more important than others. Below are four pairs of desirable qualities. In each pair, which quality do you think is more important for a child to have?

Respect for elders or Independence

Self-reliance or Obedience

Good manners or Curiosity

Being considerate or Being well-behaved

It is strange to say that "considerate" and "well-behaved" are opposites.

The Wikipedia article on Authoritarianism decribes it as a confusing mixture of different political views.

It should be clear that today's Left is much more authoritarian than today's Right. It is the Left that is always trying to cancel people for their opinions, and to censor views on the internet. It is the Left that wants everyone to have the same education, the same health plans, etc. The Right is the side advocating personal freedom and autonomy.

Just look at the current election campaign. Everything Pres. Trump does is about letting Americans live normal lives. But the Biden web site on Joe's Vision lays out a very authoritarian vision.

Update: Here is an Atlantic article calling Trump an authoritarian, but didn't really govern like one.