For those of us who study autocracies, including elections in autocracies, there were a lot of familiar messages, symbols, and methods on display this week at the #RNCConvention . THREAD

Trump obviously has no idea what words like facism and totalitarianism mean. To those who wrote that speech, shame on you. To those that cleared on this speech, shame on you. Perhaps the most un- American speech ever delivered by an American president, on the eve of July 4th.

If you were as moved as I was by Ambassador Yovanovitch‘ s testimony today , retweet #BravoMasha  !

According to reporting including @MeetThePress  , Trump called Putin 6 times in 2 months - March 30th, April 9th, April 10th, April 12, May 7th, June 1 ! That would be a crazy number of calls to any foreign leader. But to Putin? What on earth were they discussing? So strange.

"C'mon man !" I loved it when Obama used that phrase when I worked for him.

I hope all those who mocked Vice President Biden for wearing a mask and holding small campaign events will now apologize to him.

That Trump paid only $750 in taxes in '16/'17 - less than my retired parents - means either (1) he's guilty of tax fraud (2) he's a terrible, terrible businessperson, or (3) we have the most corrupt tax code in the world (designed for & by people like him, not us). Which is it?

President Trump is a public servant. He works for us. Or least that's the way it used to be. No one -- not a governor, not a doctor, not a patient -- needs to show their appreciation in order for him to do his job & help them. (BTW, no one forced him to take this job.)

This graph might be the most damning data ever concerning Trump's leadership. We are a superpower, one of the richest countries in the world, with some of the best scientists, innovators, entrepreneurs, universities, army, government officials in the world. And yet ... this: