Asking Trump ‘Will You Be a Dictator?’ Is Not a Real Question

Hugh Hewitt tries, fails to Hannitize Trump’s authoritarian problem.

Hannitize is a derisive term to describe a certain kind of interview in which a very friendly journalist sets out to get their subject to neutralize a liability. If the interview subject has previously said something politically harmful, the Hannitizer will rephrase the question, often suggesting a more palatable answer. Unlike a real news interview, the goal of a Hannitization is to avoid making news.

Of course, the term is named after Sean Hannity, but other pseudo-journalists can practice the form. Hugh Hewitt, a conservative activist, performs a classic Hannitization in his interview with Donald Trump.

Hewitt begins by asking Trump if he will peacefully surrender power at the end of his next term, something he failed to do the previous time. Naturally, he cited his friend Hannity:

Hugh Hewitt: Now, President Trump, you have been accused by all sorts of people in the Beltway of planning on being a tyrant and a dictator. I saw you on with our friend Sean, and you made a joke. I thought it was a joke that you wanted to be a dictator for a day. But a bunch of them said, “Oh, see, he’s serious — one day.” So I want to put it to you bluntly. If you are reelected, will you peacefully surrender power at the end of your second term, as required by the Constitution?

Donald Trump: Of course. And I did that this time. And I’ll tell you what: The election was rigged, and we have plenty of evidence of it. But I did it anyway. The other question you should ask is you should ask the other side, “Will you cheat on the elections?” Because the only way we’re going to lose is if they cheat on the elections.

Trump begins by saying “of course.” But then he insists he also peacefully transferred power after losing in 2020, which is obviously not true — he attempted to steal a second term and incited a violent riot in an attempt to hold power. So basically he is promising that if you liked the way he handled the postelection transfer of power in 2020, you’ll approve of how he does it at the end of his next term. He is promising the same pattern of behavior.

Trump then goes on to confirm this impression by insisting “the only way we’re going to lose is if they cheat on the elections.” He is once again delegitimizing elections by ruling out any possibility that he or his party could genuinely lose a fair election.

So Trump has answered a softball question about the peaceful transfer of power by promising a repeat of his rejection of the 2020 election, followed by a repeated insistence that any election result he disapproves of is ipso facto stolen. Any remotely curious interviewer would press him on these rather concerning statements. Hewitt changed the subject to immigration.

But much later in the interview, perhaps sensing he had not fully Hannitized the subject, he returned to the theme:

H.H.: Okay, no joking around now, Mr. President. Do you …

D.T.: Yes.

H.H.: No jokes at all. Do you intend to rule as an authoritarian or a dictator?

D.T.: Not at all. No, I’m going to rule as somebody that’s very popular with the people. And the reason I have a 50-point or 60-point lead — I saw one today, I have a 60-point lead, but the reason is because I had four great years.

This isn’t a real question. Dictators don’t call themselves dictators. If you call a dictator a dictator, they will get angry. When President Biden called Xi Jinping a dictator, it caused a diplomatic row — not because Xi isn’t a dictator but because dictators like to pretend they are merely very popular presidents.

Another interesting tell is that, democratically, elected leaders “govern.” They do not generally describe their style of presiding as chief executive as “ruling” because they exist within a system that constrains their powers. Trump was supposed to pick up on that verbal cue from Hewitt. Instead, he repeated his plan to “rule as somebody that’s very popular.”

Hewitt then changed the subject to the Middle East.