Jim Jordan’s latest hearing was a frightening look at American authoritarianism

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At a hearing Wednesday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan gave American businesses yet another preview of the authoritarian rule they can expect to run rampant if Donald Trump is elected president. Ever since Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives, Jordan has used his leadership position to press private businesses to bend to conservatives’ will. Under the guise of opposing government weaponization against conservatives, Jordan has weaponized his role as Judiciary chair to lean on social media companies to try to prevent them from stopping the spread of hate speech and disinformation online — efforts that Jordan and his allies revealingly paint as anti-Republican attacks. And as an extension of that crusade, they’ve targeted corporations that they dubiously claim have avoided advertising with conservatives. It’s all part of the conservative movement’s assault on free enterprise, which continued Wednesday when Jordan invited corporate advertisers to testify and then harangued them. In this clip, for example, Jordan suggests that the advertisers have nefariously avoided advertising on far-right commentator Ben Shapiro’s platform … as Shapiro sits right next to them. The executives, including Unilever USA President Herrish Patel and GroupM global CEO Christian Juhl, pushed back on Jordan’s claims and denied they make advertising decisions based on political views. But the real issue is that this hearing occurred at all. It had the feel of a kleptocracy — a government of people who use their powers to pry resources from citizens and hand those resources to well-connected elites. All this had me thinking about comments made by historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Wednesday’s episode of “The ReidOut.” Ben-Ghiat explained to Joy that authoritarian governments like the one Trump hopes to establish are known for their kleptocracy, which often takes the form of attacks on private businesses. You can watch the full segment here. It really puts Jordan’s authoritarian spectacle in context, and serves as a warning about the independence that Americans — and the businesses they run — stand to lose if Trump and his allies win in November.