If you've been following news out of Central America, you've likely come across the controversial and larger-than-life figure of Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's recently re-elected president.
Love him or hate him, the former marketing executive who calls himself "the world's coolest dictator" has upended politics as usual in the small nation, solidifying his popular support through his hardline policies, especially on crime.
In February, Bukele secured a resounding re-election victory in El Salvador, consolidating his grip on power after a first term marked by a fierce crackdown on violent street gangs through emergency powers, according to Fox News.
Bukele's strong stance on gangs appears to have resonated with voters traumatized by years of unchecked brutality and extortion under previous administrations.
"If he's a dictator, may we have a dictator for 100 more years," one supporter said, demonstrating the gratitude felt by the majority of the nation because of the returned sense of safety brought in by Bukele's administration.
Now, Bukele has some advice for Democrats.
In a wide-ranging interview with Tucker Carlson, Bukele offered a candid outsider's perspective on American politics and the likelihood of former President Donald Trump returning to the Oval Office.
Carlson and Bukele discussed the excesses and bureaucratic inefficiencies in the United States, from the $15 billion to build just 600 meters of railway in California to the more than a decade it took to rebuild the Freedom Tower in New York.
The conversation then pivoted to Trump after Bukele painted the bleak picture of institutional decay in the United States.
"Ultimately, as you well know, since you've succeeded in it so thumpingly, the instrument for all of that is the ballot, is the election itself," Carlson stated, noting concerns that the voting process may be corrupt. "So, with that in mind, do you think Trump, he's ahead in the polls... Do you think he can get elected?
Bukele responded with a resounding "Yes, he can get elected." He recounted his own improbable rise to office in 2019 when the establishment "rigged" the system, canceling his party's registration and leaving them scrambling at the last minute to get on the ballot.
Yet through a combination of grassroots enthusiasm and an overwhelming mandate from voters hungry for change, Bukele triumphed against the governing elites, eventually securing a supermajority in Congress that allowed his movement to remake Salvadoran institutions from the judiciary on down.
"We have never not respected a single rule," Bukele said about his comprehensive but constitutionally grounded overhaul efforts. "They cannot point out a single thing that was done by not respecting the rules that were written by them because the rules are written by people. It's not like all these rules were, you know, these rules are not given by God. These rules were written by people. But still, we respected all the rules that were written by them."
"Did you ever worry they would try and put you in jail?" Carlson asked.
"Even when I was president, I mean, even being already in the presidency, they tried to impeach me," Bukele replied.
"There's an article in the constitution that says Congress can actually fire the president if he's not fit to lead. So they say that I wasn't fit to lead, and they tried to impeach me because of that," he continued.
"What advice would you give to another former democratically elected leader seeking office who is facing jail time?" Carlson asked.
Short highlight from Tucker's interview with Nayeb Bukele in El Salvador.
Bukele is 100 percent right about Trump.pic.twitter.com/dfQqzg1SPp
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) June 6, 2024
"I mean, if there was a way to stop the candidacy, then he's probably in trouble. But if there's no way to stop him from competing in the election, all the things that they do to him will just give him more votes. Right?" Bukele responded.
"That seems to be happening," Carlson said.
"Yes, I mean, either you stop the candidacy or... you make him the greatest campaign ever," Bukele added.
"I mean, do you think they know that?" Carlson asked.
"Some of them," Bukele replied. "They should."
"And, you know, they're making a huge mistake. Huge, huge mistake. Huge, huge mistake," he added.
Since Bukele is a populist disruptor who triumphed over a "rigged" system through a strong mandate, the Democratic Party should take his warning very seriously.
Having gone through it himself, Bukele is uniquely qualified to say that efforts to prosecute or persecute Trump may actually backfire and bolster his support: "All the things they do to him will just give him more votes."
While the situation in the United States is not as desperate as it was in El Salvador when Bukele was elected, there are certainly similarities between the two presidents, from their bombastic personalities to the hope they inspire in their supporters.
And if Bukele's landslide re-election is a preview of things to come, the Democratic Party here in the United States may rue the day they decided to prosecute Trump.
