Thursday, January 22, 2026

A Historian of Fascism Warns What Comes Next | Rick Wilson & Molly Jong-Fast on Trump's Decline

Jan 20, 2026 | Ruth Ben-Ghiat has spent her career studying fascism, strongmen, and authoritarian regimes. She's a historian at NYU and author of "Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present." And she has a warning for America.In this urgent conversation, Ruth breaks down what she's seeing in Trump's first year back in office—and she's seen it before. The ICE operations in Minneapolis that operate like Mussolini's fascist militia. The public humiliation tactics used by dictators throughout history. The way Trump's obsession with the Nobel Peace Prize is driving his threats against Greenland and NATO.Jim Acosta is joined by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Rick Wilson (co-founder of The Lincoln Project), and Molly Jong-Fast (MSNBC contributor) to discuss:


Very strong language alert!