And it’s only gonna get worse, cuz all his minions have seen what happens to those who stand up to him. Just ask thousands of FBI agents, prosecutors, judges, career military, scientific leaders, educational scholars, Parks and Wildlife officials, Weather Service professionals and even Stephen Colbert, who thought he was safe. Look out South Park creators…

 

The willingness of at least some advisers to tell Trump he was wrong is likely the starkest contrast between his first four years and now, when his aides seem more keen to prove their loyalty by telling him what he wants to hear.

Likely exacerbating that is Trump’s embrace of autocracy and his eagerness to impose major policies without the approval of Congress or the states — meaning that Trump may well be even more willing to plow ahead with his ideas, facts be damned.

“You don’t have to be that smart to be an authoritarian,” Conway said. “All you need is a complete lack of conscience and restraint, an insatiable desire for control, worship and revenge, and a simple understanding of what makes people afraid. Trump’s reptilian intelligence meets that inglorious standard.”