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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Peter Stone in Washington

‘Hallmarks of authoritarianism’: Trump banks on loyalists as he wages war on truth

Man points at children in classroom
Guardian photomontage. ‘None of this is new. It’s part of Trump’s conspiratorial mindset.’ Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images

Donald Trump is waging a war on truth by firing top officials who present facts he finds unpalatable, while he banks on key loyalists at executive agencies to bolster his policies and powers by “rewriting history’s narrative” and squelching dissent, say scholars and former officials.

Trump’s penchant for rejecting facts in an authoritarian style was especially revealed in August by his sudden firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, charging without evidence that her latest report was “totally rigged”, just hours after she released data undercutting his rosy economic boasts, say critics.

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