It’s Just a Fascist President, Kendall; How Bad Could It Be?

This story contains spoilers through the eighth episode of Succession Season 4.

After a night of dirty politics, the authoritarian-leaning presidential candidate Jeryd Mencken (played by Justin Kirk) dares to speak of purity: “Don’t we long, sometimes, for something clean?” he asks while giving his all-too-presumptive victory speech in the latest episode of . Hours earlier, activists (possibly his supporters) had set fire to a voting center in Milwaukee, destroying 100,000 ballots. Looking to take’s America is set for an extended period of confusion and strife that might make our own timeline’s electoral disputes—, “Stop the Steal”—seem quaint. But for stressed-out voters, Mencken has an easy solution: Turn off your brain, squelch your ideals, and acquiesce to the strongman.