autocrat

Firebrand newspaper proprietor and independent presidential candidate Ralph Volcere has used his weekly publication to denounce the priest-president as a self-serving autocrat – and has since been banished from State House press calls.

Which is why autocrats always go after comedians pretty early on.

Around the world, autocrats have recognized the power of comedians to puncture preferred narratives, undermine authority and stoke dissent.

The would-be autocrat issuing diktats from the Oval Office may be odious to many.

In total, this tactic of burrowing into a democracy and then destroying it from within is a classic strategy among authoritarians and autocrats.