Why are we ruled by barbarians?

The Trump administration planned a televised firing-squad execution of the Fort Hood shooter, but public opposition forced it to back down, revealing the chasm between the rulers and ordinary Americans.

In 2015, watching ISIS burn a man alive showed the raw barbarism of the ancient world. In 2026, the Trump administration's plan to televise the firing-squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan threatened to bring that spectacle back.

Only one slice of the base wanted it

Every segment of American society except a sliver of MAGA Republican men opposed the livestream. Faced with bad polling, Trump cancelled it.

But the episode revealed something larger: the men who now rule America hold fringe beliefs that may outlast Trump himself.

They are obsessed with Europe and a civilisational fantasy

Unlike the old isolationist right, the New Right is profoundly pro-European. Rubio, Hegseth and Vance keep insisting that America and Europe share one 'Western civilisation' now being invaded by migrants. In their view, Muslim immigration is destroying Europe and must be fought alongside the European right.

They embrace savagery as proof of strength

The New Right despises turning the other cheek. They praise Franco and Pinochet, and now even rehabilitate Hitler — not out of ideological agreement, but to claim the label of ruthless toughness.

A televised execution of Hasan was meant to show that the West can match its enemies in barbarism. Hegseth's muscle-flexing and the romance with Putin follow the same logic: Russia is seen as the living symbol of Western savagery.

The problem is that these beliefs are alien to most Americans, who still think Hitler was the worst and do not care about the AfD or Le Pen. The New Right uses barbarism to mask its own marginality, imagining itself as the only wolf in a world of sheep. That is a dangerous fantasy for a movement that cannot win by persuasion.