Trump says many people might want a dictator. Yes, many of his people.

President Donald Trump on Monday denied that he aspires to be a dictator.

But at the same time, he decided to make a related point: that lots of people actually seem to want a dictator .

“And they say … ‘He’s a dictator. He’s a dictator,’” the president said of his critics. “A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we’d like a dictator.’ I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator.”

Why did Trump add this addendum? Maybe he’s being provocative. Or maybe the guy who has repeatedly suggested he should have absolute power and gone to great lengths to expand his power is planting a seed that it might be a good thing – even a popular thing.

Who can say?

What we can say, though, is that Trump is more or less right. Many people are increasingly entertaining the idea of a dictator. They ar