Podcaster Shawn Ryan agrees with guest that Trump and other presidents have ruled “by executive order,” adding, “It's a dictatorship”
Ryan: “It's a dictatorship. ... Pretty damn close. About as close as you can.”
Published
Citation
From the February 19, 2026, edition of Vigilance Elite's The Shawn Ryan Show, uploaded to YouTube
JEREMY SLATE (GUEST): If you look at executive power now, the executive power far outweighs the other two branches of government. And I liked Trump a lot when he got elected. I like him a little bit less now for how some things have been handled, especially the Epstein files. But he's also ruling by executive order.
SHAWN RYAN (HOST): I was going to say the same thing.
SLATE: And that's a big problem. Bush did it. Obama did it. Trump has done it. And it's — that's a real problem, because people didn't vote for executive orders. You're ruling by mandate. And that —
RYAN: It's a dictatorship.
SLATE: It's — in some ways, yeah.
RYAN: Pretty damn close. About as close as you can —
SLATE: It becomes an imperial presidency.