DAVE DAVIES, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies, in today for Terry Gross. When police used smoke, flash grenades and chemical spray to clear protesters from Lafayette Square near the White House Monday night for a photo op of President Trump holding a Bible in front of a historic church, the action drew heated criticism. But not much of it came from congressional Republicans, who were mostly silent or supportive. Our guest, journalist and historian Anne Applebaum, has a new piece in The Atlantic examining the motives and behavior of Republican leaders, who she says have abandoned their principles to support a president who's built a proto-authoritarian cult in the White House. In the article and a forthcoming book, Applebaum draws on her years of experience writing about Eastern Europe for many publications. She's also the author of several books, including "Gulag: A History," which won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction in 2004. Anne Applebaum is a staff writer for The Atlantic. Her forthcoming book is "Twilight Of Democracy: The Seductive Lure Of Authoritarianism." Her piece in The Atlantic is titled "History Will Judge The Complicit." Read more
