Such a long tradition on the Right of supporting foreign autocrats and longingly admiring rightwing regimes in other countries
It has always been a way for American rightwing intellectuals and politicians to affirm and communicate their preferred vision of societal order at home and abroad.
i am currently reading jacob heilbrunn’s great book on the American right’s love affair with foreign dictators, and one thing that is very apparent is that these people have always celebrated racism. no backlash required.
May 7, 2025 01:00They supported apartheid in South Africa as the manifestation of a “natural” racial hierarchy. They adored Franco-Spain as a model of white Christian patriarchal order. They hailed Mussolini for his “reactionary modernism” and his manliness.
And, of course, the original “America First” movement of the 1940s was strongly opposed to going to war with Hitler: Many of the movements’ leaders either supported the Nazis outright and believed Germany was fighting for a noble cause or were simply anti-anti-Nazi.
