Ashley Rindsberg at Fox News reminds us that Wikipedia has an unmissable leftist and partisan tilt – starting with the argument that President Trump is an "authoritarian." They sound like CNN and MSNBC. Wikipedia is liberal media, and it pops up in every Google search.
Adversarial editors have seeded this highly charged claim across numerous Wikipedia articles, using verbatim language and identical sources, at least one of which is tied to a left-wing activist group. The effort has trickled down to ChatGPT, which cites these Wikipedia articles as "evidence" that Trump is authoritarian.
The most visible effort in this campaign is the main Wikipedia article on Trump. The "Donald Trump" article mentions the term "authoritarian" no fewer than seven times.
Here they are [emphasis is mine]:
"Trump's actions, especially in his second term, have been described as authoritarian and contributing to democratic backsliding. After his first term, scholars and historians ranked him as one of the worst presidents in American history."
....
"During the campaign, Trump made increasingly violent and authoritarian statements. He said that he would weaponize the FBI and the Justice Department against his political opponents and use the military to target Democratic politicians and those that did not support his candidacy. He used harsher and more dehumanizing anti-immigrant rhetoric than during his presidency. His rhetoric, calling his political opponents "the enemy", vermin, and fascists, has been described by some historians and scholars as authoritarian, fascist,[h] and unlike anything a political candidate has ever said in American history. Age and health concerns [!] also arose during the campaign, with several medical experts highlighting an increase in rambling, tangential speech and behavioral disinhibition."
....
"Trump's actions against civil society were described by hundreds of legal experts and political scientists as authoritarian, contributing to democratic backsliding, and negatively impacting the rule of law."
...
"He has been described as embracing far-right extremism, and he helped bring far-right fringe ideas and organizations into the mainstream. Many of his actions and rhetoric have been described as authoritarian and contributing to democratic backsliding. Trump pushed for an expansion of presidential power under a maximalist interpretation of the unitary executive theory. His political base has been compared to a cult of personality."
....
"In his second term, Trump's actions against the media were unprecedented in modern American history, and historians described them as mirroring actions by authoritarian leaders to censor political opponents and negatively impacting the freedom of speech and free press."
Notice how they routinely cite apparently non-ideological "scholars and historians" to describe Trump as a dictator. Rindsberg added the Wikipedia campaign to cast Trump as authoritarian comes on the heels of a similar effort—painting him as a "fascist." As Rindsberg reported in October, that "fascism" campaign included the creation of a new article, "Donald Trump and fascism," published six weeks before the 2024 presidential election.
Another article, "Trumpism," mentions the term "authoritarian" more than 20 times, including in the lead, where it claims the Trump-inspired movement "features significant illiberal, authoritarian and at times autocratic beliefs."
This is the final blow: "The article on Iran’s Ayatollah Khameini—a dictator who, as the country’s Supreme Leader, exercises total control of every aspect of life—does not once mention the term "authoritarian." The same is true of the article on Cuba’s communist dictator, Raúl Castro."
