Thread by @tzimmer_history

“What the hell happened to her?” suggests that Haley and, by extension, Republicans in general have recently lost their way. Better to acknowledge that everything we’re seeing is well in line with longstanding anti-democratic, authoritarian tendencies on the American Right.

https://twitter.com/stupolitics/status/1411420429563146241

That doesn’t mean that Republicans haven’t changed the way they talk, the way they present themselves. Many have. And these shifts on the level of rhetoric and style were, to some extent, inspired by Trump.

I reflected on Haley’s embrace of “brawler politics,” specifically, here:

https://twitter.com/tzimmer_history/status/1409504349634580487

But on an ideological level, in terms of the political project that Republicans are pursuing, none of this is new, all of it is well in line with longstanding impulses on the Right, and animated by the same anxieties that have shaped and fueled conservatism for many decades.

“What the hell happened to her?” is a good question only if it is intended to mean: What happened that made her embrace authoritarianism so brazenly and blatantly instead of sticking with a more traditional approach of subtext and dog whistles?

I’d also suggest we refrain from using pathologizing language to describe what these Republicans are doing. I understand the impulse to call them all nuts, crazy, insane. This, however, tends to obscure rather than illuminate what is happening.

Nikki Haley has not all of a sudden lost her mind, Republicans are not simply “obsessed,” not led astray by hurt feelings or temporary delusions - the current radicalization builds on longstanding anti-democratic convictions and impulses among conservatives.

Here's a (much) longer version of that argument, with plenty of receipts:

https://twitter.com/tzimmer_history/status/1397187240619610120

It’s not just a phase, or a mood; they’re not just acting on a whim. Republicans everywhere, on all levels, are deliberately and systematically pursuing their goal of installing one-party minority rule. They’re not crazy, they are determined. That’s what should worry us.