Today’s heartless tirade identifying dictator (6)
I believe the answer is:
tyrant
'dictator' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Cruel dictator ' mean 'tyrant' so perhaps 'dictator' could also mean 'tyrant')
'today's heartless tirade' is the wordplay.
'heartless' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'tirade' becomes 'rant' (I've seen this before).
'today' with its middle removed is 'ty'.
'ty'+'rant'='TYRANT'
'identifying' is the link.
(Other definitions for tyrant that I've seen before include "Harsh and absolute ruler" , "Despot, dictator" , "taskmaster" , "Despotic ruler" , "Autocrat - bully" .)