Mark Leonard: Trump studying Europe's strongmen for his dirty tricks campaign 

Like other authoritarian leaders, Trump is deploying a new anti-democratic politics that has yet to be fully comprehended

US president Donald Trump:By tarring the Black Lives Matter protests as an outpouring of violent 'urban' hooliganism, Trump is reprising the racial politics used by former Republican presidents since Richard Nixon. Picture:AP

With November approaching, I am becoming ever more nervous about the US presidential election. While my American friends focus on Joe Biden's lead over current president Donald Trump in opinion polls, believing deeply in US democracy's capacity for self-renewal, my own perspective as a British citizen and think-tank director has me worried.

As a Briton, I can remember watching a 20-point polling lead for 'Remain' become a victory for 'Leave' in the Brexit referendum four years ago. And as a think-tank director, I work closely with scholars who study how authoritarian leaders manipulate democratic systems to stay in power, as has happened in Turkey, Russia, Hungary, and Poland.