Excuse me, what? LEFT-wing? This is a BLISTERING lie, intended to inflame people who are primed to 1) believe anything Republicans say, no matter how ridiculous, and 2) primed to hate anything with the word “Left” in it.

Left-wing is a thing. Authoritarian kleptocracies are a thing. The idea of a “left-wing authoritarian kleptocracy” is paradoxical and impossible to reconcile with traditional left-wing ideology. The two concepts are fundamentally at odds. A true left-wing authoritarian kleptocracy is an oxymoron because kleptocracy and leftist ideals of equity and anti-corruption are fundamentally incompatible. While regimes can claim leftist origins or use leftist rhetoric, once they devolve into authoritarianism and kleptocracy, they have diverged from the principles that define left-wing governance. He’s describing fascism. And, given that he mentions Nicaragua – which is one of the only four countries INCLUDING THE UNITED STATES to go backwards in terms of human rights (see above), this shameful statement rates somewhere between “out to lunch” and “completely batshit.”

Full contextual analysis of Section 2.6: Agency for International Development here.