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As President Trump openly embraces the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon and promotes "law and order" while refusing to condemn armed followers of his who target anti-racist protesters, we speak with Jason Stanley, Yale philosopher and scholar of propaganda, author of "How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them." Stanley says Trump built a cult of personality within the Republican Party, as evident during the Republican National Convention, and has moved the United States steadily into authoritarianism during his term. "Fascism is a cult of the leader who promises national restoration in the face of supposed threats by leftist radicals, minorities and immigrants. He promises only he can save us," Stanley says. "In the RNC, what we saw is we saw a cult of the leader."
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AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I'm Amy Goodman.
DELEGATES: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years! Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Now, if you want to really drive them crazy, you say "12 more years."
DELEGATES: Twelve more years! Twelve more years! Twelve more years!
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Because we caught them doing some really bad things in 2016. Let's see what happens.
AMY GOODMAN: "Twelve more years." That was how Donald Trump kicked off the Republican National Convention from North Carolina last week, where he flew for the roll call vote. The convention came amidst a nationwide uprising against police brutality, just days after the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and while people continued to demand justice for Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in the streets. But Vice President Mike Pence did not say their names when he addressed the RNC; instead, he focused on the killing of federal security officer David Patrick Underwood in Oakland, California.
VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: We will have law and order on the streets of this country for every American of every race and creed and color. " President Trump and I know that the men and women that put on the uniform of law enforcement are the best of us. Every day, when they walk out that door, they consider our lives more important than their own people like Dave Patrick Underwood, an officer in the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Protective Service, who was shot and killed during the riots in Oakland, California. Dave's heroism is emblematic of the heroes that serve in blue every day. And we're privileged tonight to be joined by his sister Angela. Angela, we say to you, we grieve with your family, and America will never forget or fail to honor officer Dave Patrick Underwood.
AMY GOODMAN: But Vice President Pence left out a key part of the story. The man charged with Underwood's death was not a Black Lives Matter activist, but a man with ties to the far-right "boogaloo" movement, which has used protests against police brutality as a cover to carry out violence.
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