Here’s a taste of Politico’s column:
On April 7, 1926, Fascist leader Benito Mussolini gave a speech to a conference of surgeons, and then began walking with his aides through the streets of Rome. When he reached Piazza del Campidoglio, an Irish-born British pacifist named Violet Gibson stepped out of the crowd and shot him.
The bullet grazed Mussolini’s nose and Gibson tried to shoot him again, but her gun malfunctioned, and police quickly detained her. Mussolini was whisked to safety, but a few hours later he appeared in public to reassure his fans — and posed for a photograph with a big white bandage on his nose.
The history of Mussolini’s consolidation of power and the attacks that punctuated that process carry lessons for our understanding of the mentality and methods of Donald Trump after the attempt on his life at a rally last month.
The comparison between Mussolini and Trump can be overstated, and for one thing, Trump is not in power at the moment. He is an aspiring strongman, but we can’t know for sure how he would have reacted had the shooting occurred when he was in the White House, and whether he would have used it to crack down on critics or expand his authority.
What is clear already is that the assassination attempt has made Trump’s personality cult more robust and more powerful for his followers. His claims of being a victim targeted on their behalf are now more credible and his persona cemented as an indomitable fighter. And he knows it.
Just as Il Duce refashioned government to support his ambitions for absolute power exactly a century ago, Trump could do his best to follow suit.
And the assassination attempt potentially strengthens his hand.
In this light, Mussolini’s bandaged nose and Trump’s bandaged ear both speak to how autocrats can use adversity to strengthen their power at democracy’s expense.
