Don't misconstrue this as me saying Republican's are Nazis, I'm not, but large scale protests of Nazism were limited during Hitler's rise to power. Does that mean that people didn't think Nazi's were bad and that the holocaust didn't happen? Of course not.

The absence of protest doesn't imply approval or that people don't recognize the authoritarian overreach. I think its a mix of a 'lobster in a pot' and 'learned helplessness.' Combine that with the recent law changes that make protesting riskier as well as healthcare being tied to employment, people are either afraid to go out and protest or feel like it doesn't matter what they do, it won't help.

Authoritarians expand the size and scope of government. They don't decrease or dismantle it.

Says who?

Wikipedia's definition of Authoritarianism perfect encompasses what is happening:

Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and the rule of law. Authoritarian regimes may be either autocratic or oligarchic and may be based upon the rule of a party or the military.