Sometimes, Donald Trump’s authoritarianism is demonstrated by what doesn’t happen, by the conspicuous silences. The Supreme Court just held hearings on the constitutionality of Trump’s unilaterally applied tariffs. Normally, businesses with billions of dollars at stake would be filing amicus briefs. But they are silent, because they are afraid.
CNN reports:
The battle to stop Trump’s tariffs is being waged by a group of small businesses—including a family-owned toymaker in Illinois and a New York-based wine importer. They have advanced the case to the nation’s highest court even as their larger and better-known competitors have remained notably silent. …
Even when they are not named plaintiffs, major companies often wade into Supreme Court cases with friend-of-court briefs, offering their own take on the controversy pending before the justices. … In 2019, Apple CEO Tim Cook personally signed an amicus brief at the high court supporting the continuation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program created during the Obama administration for Dreamers. …
But the big difference today is the administration’s willingness to pursue retribution against critics. …
[Cassie] Abel, who launched her company in Idaho nearly a decade ago, noted that Walmart and other retailers endured public blowback from Trump this year when they threatened tariff-related price increases.
“That was a clear signal that anyone who wants to speak out against this is going to be in the pain cave,” said Abel, who joined an amicus brief with other small businesses opposed to the tariffs.
This is another case of the capitulation of the elites, whose cowardice leaves the little guys to be the ones to stick their necks out against Trump’s authoritarianism—even as it shows big businesses why they should take a stand. And that is, of course, because authoritarianism turns out to be incompatible with capitalism.
The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.
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