Footage of a man describing the U.S. as a dictatorship has gone viral and been viewed millions of times.

“It is a dictatorship, and there is not much we can do about it right now,” creator @longlivejudah says in the TikTok video shared to his page.

The footage, which lasts for nearly 7 minutes, has amassed over 26.1 million views online, and sees the creator share criticisms and concerns about the state of American politics, with the text overlay “The USA is a dictatorship.”

Newsweek has reached out to longlivejudah via email for comment.

Why It Matters

The term “dictatorship,” is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “Autocratic rule, control, or leadership,” and “A form of government in which absolute power is concentrated in a dictator or a small clique,” and “a government organization or group in which absolute power is concentrated.”

President Donald Trump has been described as a dictator on multiple occasions. In April, a survey conducted by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found that 52 percent of Americans agreed that Trump is a “dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy.”

There was a split down party lines in terms of agreement with this statement though, with 87 percent of Democrats agreeing, compared with 56 percent of independents, and 17 percent of Republicans.

What To Know

The video from @longlivejudah was shared last week and shows him talking to camera about the current state of politics for 6 minutes and 51 seconds. He makes a number of arguments and statements throughout the video, referencing Elon Musk, ICE deportations and book bans, among other things.

“All of these alarm bells are ringing, federal court judge blocks this but all this s*** is happening, why?” he asks in the video, in what appears to be a reference to legal setbacks faced by the president on a number of matters, after judges have moved to block executive orders from the administration.

“In what type of society does that happen? A dictatorship,” he adds.

Later in the video, he says: “They’re trying to float bills that will ban books.”

Book bans have been on the rise in recent years, with conservative states more likely to restrict access to some books in schools. More than 3,000 books have been banned across various states, with Florida leading the charge, primarily brought on by debates over race, gender identity, and LGBTQ+ rights. PEN America recorded 3,362 instances of books being banned in the 2022-23 academic year, an increase of 33 percent from the previous year.

After this, @longlivejudah references deportations, stating: “They said we’re going after the worst of the worst criminals, we’re gonna get ’em all out of here. And then, they revoke people with legal status. And then they have ICE agents waiting at courthouses for people going through the legal process.”

Trump has pledged to carry out the biggest mass deportations in U.S. history, and numerous ICE raids have been conducted. Some of these have swept up individuals who held proper documentation. Though the raids follow legal directives, protests and opposition to these raids has been prominent. In Los Angeles, protests about the deportations has led to clashes with law enforcement, highlighting deepening rifts between sanctuary jurisdictions and federal immigration policy.

What People Are Saying

@longlivejudah, speaking in the viral TikTok video: “It’s a dictatorship. It’s not pre, it’s not upcoming, it’s here.”

TikTok user @🇺🇸kindsonly314🇺🇸 in a response liked over 334,000 times said: “PEOPLE ARE NOT NEARLY FRIGHTENED ENOUGH.”

TikTok user @Angel said: “Keep talking! Never silence yourself for Trump!!”

What’s Next

Toward the end of the video, @longlivejudah states: “It genuinely does not matter if you’re on the right, left, Republican, Democrat, it just should be a collective, universal, unanimous, ‘What the f*** is this?'”