It may be small and petty, but these changes are part of the erosion of democratic norms, softening people up for potentially more authoritarian behavior.
Many strongmen also love to display giant photos of themselves wherever they can. If you ever go to Tiananmen Square in Beijing, you’ll be greeted with a portrait of Mao Zedong. Mao founded the People’s Republic of China, and he served as chairman of the Chinese Communist Party for more than 30 years. His portrait is about 19½ feet tall and 15 feet wide, and it weighs about 3,000 pounds. It’s been hanging over the gate leading into the Forbidden City since 1949.
If you travel farther to the east, you’ll find something similar in North Korea. In the country’s capital of Pyongyang, there’s an area called Kim Il Sung Square, where you’ll find large portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, the great leader and the dear leader, respectively, overlooking the plaza at all times as people go about their daily lives.
When Putin visited the country last year, North Koreans gave him a warm welcome by plastering his photo everywhere. They even temporarily put up a humongous portrait of Putin next to one of Kim Jong Un during a welcome ceremony.
Neither China nor North Korea invented this idea. They’ve taken their cues from Joseph Stalin, the former brutal ruler of the Soviet Union. He liked to have portraits of himself displayed in public and lofted by his supporters during parades.
That practice continues in many other countries where strongmen rule today. You see it in places like Egypt, where the face of its president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, is inescapable. His mug is on billboards and banners, plastered on buildings and hanging along the roadside. That’s especially true ahead of an election, and it’s no wonder he’s been able to easily win three terms in office. (Not to mention the fact that Egypt doesn’t exactly have free and fair elections in the first place.)
In Iran, you’ll find an abundance of murals, posters and portraits of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He’s often depicted with the country’s late leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Their images are displayed everywhere — at mosques, in malls and even on the sides of some buildings.
And now, something like that is happening in the United States, too. Last week, a giant banner with Donald Trump’s official portrait was displayed on the United States Department of Agriculture building in Washington, D.C., alongside a similar banner featuring Abraham Lincoln.
Hail, Donald! Long live the King!