“The Road to Serfdom” by Hayek spells this all out.
The inexorable march of statists is to more and more brutal tactics.
Because it will take a cold-hearted official to make the uncomfortable decisions. As those decisions become less and less popular (and workable), tougher decisions will have to be made. So a tougher and colder official will rise to the top.
Rinse & repeat until you have the coldest, most brutal dictator rising to the top.
History bears out this theory.
That’s why Barry Sotero chose Kamala Harris as VP. She ruthlessly goes after enemies of the left, and following Gropey’s interregnum, she as president will unleash the full power of the FBI and DoJ on Trump’s supporters. Count on it, though persecutions will begin under Goody Joe for certain, after a very brief phoney kumbaya period.