C’mon Now, Is Trump REALLY a Fascist?

A lot of talk has been going on over the last several years, and most notably, over the last 6 to 8 months, about Donald Trump and his ideological leanings, particularly if he is really a fascist.

It’s all over social media – those opposing Trump calling him a “fascist” and those supporting him calling anyone who opposes him either a “fascist” or more frequently a “communist.”

But what do those terms actually mean? Are they just babble meant as a mindless slur against someone who doesn’t share our beliefs and sociopolitical views, or is there some deeper connotation?

Is Donald Trump really a fascist?

Definitions

In order to answer that question, we need to look beyond the popular misconceptions of what “fascism” and “communism” are.

It’s far too easy to just spout out a term “fascist” or “communist” based on a “mob-rule” misunderstanding or popular use of the terms, and apply them to our perceived enemies.

But to truly understand if a person, group, party, or nation is either fascist or communist, we need to establish a firm, common ground. We do that by sticking to the historically-established definitions of the terms.

Fascism

Fascism is defined as:

a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

The Oxford English Dictionary refines this definition with historical information, stating:

An authoritarian and nationalistic system of government and social organization which emerged after the end of the First World War in 1918, and became a prominent force in European politics during the 1920s and 1930s, most notably in Italy and Germany; (later also) an extreme right-wing political ideology based on the principles underlying this system. Frequently with capital initial. (Oxford English Dictionary).

Communism

Communism is defined as:

A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power. The Marxist-Leninist doctrine advocating revolution to overthrow the capitalist system and establish a dictatorship of the proletariat that will eventually evolve into a perfectly egalitarian and communal society. (American Heritage Dictionary)

Not The Same

Based on these definitions, it’s clear that fascism and communism are not the same thing.

Fascism is a far-right philosophy, while communism is far-left.

Indeed, it would be wrong to say that in the political history of America, that any one party has turned the country completely fascist or communist, or even attempted to do so (the capitalist market economy is just too tempting to give up).

It would also be wrong to claim based on historical evidence that either the Republican party had wanted to turn America into a fascist state, or that the Democrat party had wanted to turn America into a communist state.

But with the return of Donald J. Trump to the White House, the concern among many in America and around the world, is that a fascist-style state is exactly what Trump intends.

Using The Definitions to Judge The Present

With those well-established definitions, we can see the criteria upon which we can judge if a person or a group truly be considered fascist:

• A far-right-wing movement;
• a populist movement that exalts nation and race, creating isolationism and a sense of exceptionalism;
• an authoritarian structure headed by one leader as opposed to a group;
• exerting economic and social adherence to the leader’s standard, and;
• a determination to suppress opposition to the leader.

Certainly history has taught us that the two most famous (or infamous) regimes in the past 100+ years that stand on those planks, were Fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini and Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler.

But what about today? Is it fair to label the “MAGA” movement as fascist, or even to refer to Trump as “Hitler”? Surely people who do that are just tossing words around that they don’t really understand, right?

Well, let’s look at the evidence, taking each criterion of the standard definition of “fascism” step by step, and compare them to statements and actions from Donald Trump, as well as from the MAGA movement politicians and rank-and-file, to definitively and completely answer the questions: is Trump really a fascist, and is MAGA a far-right fascist movement?

A Far-Right Movement

I shouldn’t have to explain that the political spectrum is typically divided into “right” or conservative, and “left” or liberal. Across the spectrum, we see ideologies including progressive, centrist, and moderate. At the extremes of the spectrum, however, are the “far-right” and “far-left.”

Identification

Far-right politics, frequently called “right-wing extremism”, encompass ideologies that share the ideals of radical conservatism, authoritarianism, ultra-nationalism, and nativism.

Far more extreme in ideology than typical conservatism, the politics of the far-right are marked by severe and sometimes violent opposition to moderate or liberal views, in addition to the use of various types of force to further the agenda.

Far-right politics are themselves defiantly nationalistic and bristle at the notion of others foreigners to their nation sharing in the rights and privileges of those born in the country.

The Comparison

Comparing this definition to the current day, the statements and actions from both Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, are in fact, extreme in ideology. His MAGA politicians openly reject any attempt to work alongside or even to get along with those who don’t share their movement’s ideals.

There are far too many examples of this on traditional and social media to list here; but even a cursory look reveals that MAGA politicians and the “rank and file” MAGA adherents are constantly spewing words of hatred against “Democrats” and “RINOs” (aka, those in the Republican party who refuse to support Trump), projecting insults and spreading misinformation without so much as attempting to understand the position of those they are insulting.

Certainly the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot is a prime example of the far-right’s use of actual physical violence in pursuit of their aims.

A Nationalist Movement

The concept of “nationalism” is nothing new. Americans are perhaps the most nationalistic in the world when it comes to their sense of pride in their nation and its accomplishments. Other countries, particularly in Europe, look at the sheer volume of American flag depictions on everything from airplanes to underwear, and think that we’re a bit weird that we place so much emphasis and pride in our national ensign.

But even in a global society, one’s pride in his/her roots is surely a good thing. On a global scale, perhaps the times where we see other countries exhibiting similar behavior is during the Olympics or the World Cup (soccer, or football to the rest of the world). But on a day-to-day basis, you won’t necessarily walk down the streets of London, Berlin, or Rome seeing the national flag plastered in every conceivable place.

So, nationalism by definition, “advocacy of or support for the interests of one’s own nation,” is not necessarily a bad thing.

Ratcheting Up The Nationalism…

When nationalism becomes a key plank in fascist ideology, is when it seeks to exclude or degrade the rights, interests, and self-determination of other nations, races, cultures, or customs that are perceived as “foreign.”

We saw this clearly in the European fascist regimes of the 20th century. Such regimes took nationalism to a whole different level by combining nationalist fervor with xenophobia, the concept that the nation would be great, if not for undesirable elements within the nation.

…And The Xenophobia

Recall the infamous Hitler doctrine of declaring that Germany’s problems were due to a variety of elements not considered purely “Aryan” – including Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, communists, and nation-states perceived by Hitler to be fundamentally opposed to the greatness of the German nation.

Hitler proclaimed a war on such undesirable elements, in order to root out and rid the exceptional German state from those elements which would bring it down or at the very least, keep it from its greatness.

This was classic scapegoating, blaming Jews, communists and other minority groups for all of Germany’s problems. Hitler went so far as to direct his military and paramilitary forces to root out and bring down these perceived “traitors.” From the early days of the Reich, much of the work carried out by the SS and the Gestapo was in silencing dissent, rounding up undesirables, and deporting them to labor camps (at the least) or outright murdering them (at the worst).

The Comparison

Today, the MAGA movement, spurred by its leader Donald Trump, has made a practical religion of this concept of nationalist exceptionalism. The first clue was in the name: “Make America Great Again.”

Since 2015, there have been far too many speeches and quotes from Donald Trump to list here, where he stated that America was “broken”, that we had become second-rate nation, plagued by crime and corruption. From his early campaign promises in the last decade, to the present day, this is a recurring theme with Trump – that America is no longer “great”, but broken – and only he can fix it.

This plank is well-seen in many Trump speeches, as well as the patterns of dialog from Trump’s circle and from the MAGA rank-and-file at large all over both traditional and social media.

Classic Xenophobia

The statements that he makes are classic nationalistic xenophobia: America is only broken because elements of American society undesirable in the eyes of the far-right are diminishing the greatness of America.

This is also classic scapegoating, blaming foreign nationals (whether legally or illegally in the country), homosexuals and transgender persons, and liberals in general, for all of America’s problems.

According to Trump’s MAGA doctrine these undesirables must be identified, rooted out, and subjugated by any means necessary, in order to make America “great” again.

It’s Already Happening

We’ve already seen this occur, thanks to the Trump-ordered roundups of anyone not natively born in this country, detaining them and aiming to deport them to their countries of origin.

This malicious xenophobia can also be seen in the stated intention by Trump and MAGA to completely eliminate the protections for citizenship by birth within the country, regardless of the citizenship status of the parents. The concept of jus soli was enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment; and 23 other countries around the world have jus soli enshrined in their laws and constitutions as well.

And while the far-right argument to eliminate jus soli may go along the lines of “tons of other countries don’t do it, why should we”, this would be a poor argument to make considering that a number of those “tons” of other countries are either communist, lean communist, or are themselves under autocratic/dictatorial rule. Besides, using the “why should we” argument doesn’t begin to mask the naked racism and xenophobia behind the the call for the elimination of jus soli.

A Populist Movement

Populism is defined as:

“a political philosophy supporting the rights and power of the people in their struggle against the privileged elite.” (American Heritage Dictionary)

In this philosophy, propaganda and misinformation are frequently employed to promote the concept that the “many” are being used and abused by the “few.”

Now, populism in itself it not solely a far-right philosophy. The communist movements around the world have often employed this concept to “prove” that the ordinary worker, or proletariat, were being taken advantage of by the bourgeoisie, which were viewed as the “upper” or “ruling” class of merchants and the rich, despite the fact that the term is also often applied to the “middle class” in political-economic terms.

By defining the struggle in “worker” against “ruler” terms, the Russian communists were successful in overthrowing the monarchy and tossing their country into over 70 years of bare subsistence of the masses, while the leaders of the communist revolution became the ruling upper class all the while projecting themselves to the proletariat as people just like them.

Read George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984.

The Comparison

We see this clearly in the Trump MAGA doctrine, in which he has clearly defined only those who subscribe to his MAGA philosophy as being “we the people”, and any government not led by him (such as the previous Democrat administration) as being the “elite” that must be rooted out and destroyed.

The MAGA concept of the government “elite” is fully embodied in their spurious declaration of a so-called “deep state.”

Deep State Conspiracy

Historically, the term “deep state” appears to arise from Turkish politics in the 1990s, but the American far-right has given it a life of its own with the emergence of the QAnon conspiracy theory cult.

According to this overarching conspiracy theory, the deep state is supposedly a clandestine network of members of the federal government – especially within the FBI and CIA – who work in conjunction with high-level financial and industrial leaders, to exercise their own power within the US government.

Interestingly though, the term “deep state” appears to only be applied by the far-right in reference to Democrat or Independent politicians, and industry leaders known to hold progressive or liberal views. To date, this term has not been applied to any person or group holding conservative views or to the Republican party membership.

We The People

But Republicans are not immune from this consideration of “us versus them.”

Trump’s concept of MAGA as a “we the people have been screwed by the Democrat deep-state elites” has certainly resonated with many ordinary Americans who, for whatever reason, feel disenfranchised by government policies and are willing to believe Trump’s assertions that only his political and societal enemies are responsible.

This is clearly why the whole MAGA movement has taken off so firmly, and unwavering support for Trump and the MAGA doctrine is so vehemently held, among those who would traditionally be considered the proletariat – the generally lesser-educated, those with “average” jobs (as opposed to executives, for example), and those more easily inclined to not question the validity of statements and information presented to them by people they are asked to blindly trust.

Thus, it is easier to use propaganda to sell such people on concepts such as a deep state, fake news, and immigrant “invasions.”

While MAGA doctrine considers anyone who does not explicitly and completely share and promote the specific far-right view of America held by Trump and his allies to be traitors and enemies of America, Republicans who publicly criticize Trump’s policies or his person, are maliciously labeled as “RINOs” (Republican In Name Only). Their inference is clear: to MAGA, if you don’t fully believe in and support Donald Trump, you’re not a Republican.

An Isolationist/Exceptionalist Movement

Isolationism refers to the political philosophy of opposition to involvement in the political affairs and engagements of other countries. While some equate this with the term “non-interventionism”, the two are not exactly the same.

Isolationism is more broad than the “non-interventionism” concept of avoiding involvement in the foreign relations and internal affairs of other countries.

Preaching the Message

Isolationism preaches a message that goes hand-in-hand with “exceptionalism”, the concept that one’s own country is singularly unique and morally righteous among the nations and that other countries must subjugate themselves to the exceptional country.

Isolationists seek to withdraw from trade and economic agreements, treat permanent military alliances with disdain in favor of temporary alliances only when such meet the current interests of the nation, and eschew international organizations aimed at keeping international peace, trade, health, and well-being of the human race.

By isolating the country and showing that it can stand alone without the need or desire to ally with the international community for any political, financial, or military reason, isolationists aim to demonstrate the “G-d-given” position of the country as the “leader” of the planet without parallel.

A Fallen American

One seemingly great American, Charles Lindbergh, hailed as a hero for his accomplishment of the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, was nonetheless a staunch isolationist and Nazi sympathizer. He aligned himself with Yale University’s “America First Committee”, and his radio addresses and public appearances exposed Lindbergh’s views that America should stand apart from other nations and not involve itself in the affairs of other countries.

He, along with other notables such as Thomas Watson (the head of IBM) and Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company and a notorious anti-Semite, supported the Neutrality Acts passed by Congress around that time, which had the unfortunate side effect of denying refugee status to thousands of Jews fleeing Nazi persecution.

It must also be noted that as the 1930s turned into the 1940s, Lindbergh came under severe criticism because of his frequent trips to, and support of, Nazi Germany. In fact, he accepted the “Service Cross of the Order of the German Eagle”, given to him by the Nazi leadership. This medal was given to non-German nationals who were publicly sympathetic to the Third Reich.

Ford and Watson also received this medal from the Nazis.

The Comparison

Trump’s MAGA doctrine closely parallels the old arguments of Lindbergh and the “America First Committee.”

In fact, the strongest supporters of this are those who hold to the white nationalist ideals of “America First”, an organization headed by notorious white supremacist, anti-Semite and neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes. A person of Mexican descent, Fuentes consistently attempts to downplay his own non-White status and Mexican heritage to further a white supremacist philosophy.

As a result of this association, white supremacists and Neo-Nazi groups of all types have firmly latched on to Trump’s MAGA doctrine to further their own aims of eliminating the legitimacy and authority of all but their own extreme far-right worldview and vision of America as a country governed by whites only, with second-class status for people of mixed race, foreigners, and ultimately, women.

America First

In the current comparison, these supporters completely agree with and fight toward the complete isolation of America from the affairs of other nations, for the removal of our country from international agreements of all types, and for financial penalties to other nations (tariffs) that would effectively block goods and services from other nations from being available in the US.

By doing so, they believe this would serve to “make America great again” by eliminating products made outside the US, thus satisfying the “exceptionalist” belief that America is the number-one, supreme country in the world, without equal or compare… a belief that has in reality, long been proven not only false, but irrelevant, in the modern multinational and multicultural world.

To this point, it should be noted that Trump’s hypocrisy is evident in his own “Trump”-branded products. From shirts to golfware, very few of the products that bear his name now or in the past, were actually made in America.

Pulling Out

The isolationist doctrine is also seen in Trump’s pullout of the Paris Climate Accord, the Iran deal he canceled in his last administration, the complete pullout of troops from Afghanistan (which led to a civil war and the re-emergence of the Taliban), and his wavering statements on the Russia-Ukraine war.

In this last instance, he has claimed that he would end the conflict within 24 hours of taking office (a deadline he clearly missed), made comments about eliminating military support for Ukraine, and then declared that he alone will end the conflict through his self-proclaimed “negotiating skills.”

The desire is clear: the Trump MAGA doctrine intends to isolate America from other countries entirely.

An Authoritarian Movement

The term “authoritarian” is an adjective, meaning:

Characterized by or favoring absolute obedience to authority, as against individual freedom. (American Heritage Dictionary)

An authoritarian form of government is one in which the governing body, sometimes even just one person, exercises near-absolute control. This control is maintained by propaganda and subterfuge, with little regard for public opinion or established rule of law.

In the history of the world, several people stand out as being properly labeled as “authoritarian.” Unfortunately, all of them have been despots ruling their countries with an iron fist, in order to maintain their personal control over every aspect of their country’s existence.

From Pinochet to Pol Pot, Mussolini to Hitler, and even in modern times, Hussein, al-Assad, and Putin, have all shown this same pattern of authoritarian rule – sometimes very violently and with little regard to how many of their perceived enemies that were killed so that they may retain their complete control over their countries and their societies.

The Comparison

During Trump’s first administration, we saw little flickers of his desire to rule absolutely. When he lost the election in 2020, the immediate answer was denial, then violent upheaval of the Capitol building to stop what he and his followers perceived was a “stolen election” despite the fact that no one, including Trump himself, was ever able to produce one scrap of evidence to prove any widespread fraud that would have cost him the election.

Nearly four years of planning and whipping up the MAGA base have brought about changes to the government just within his first several days that clearly show his intention to morph the US government into an authoritarian structure. Some notable examples include:

• eliminating governmental persons and agencies that he perceived would not be loyal solely to him
• freezing medical research funding
• ordering the military to police the border (a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act)
• declaring birthright citizenship null and void (a violation of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment)
• eliminating rules prohibiting discrimination against racial and ethnic groups, and LGBTQ+ persons

Most recently (as of this writing), loyal MAGA adherents in Congress are proposing altering the 22nd Amendment limiting a presidential term of office to two terms maximum. By doing so, the intention is clear to make it “legal” for Trump to remain in power for a third term… and possibly another amendment to make it “legal” for a fourth term… and so on.

The authoritarian nature of this current government is seen also in the fact that, at present, MAGA have complete control over the Congress as well, by holding majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

These majorities create a perfect situation for Trump’s complete control of the US government, to do whatever he wants without the typical checks and balances associated with a two-party system.

This point leads us to the next definition.

A Movement Exerting Economic and Social Adherence to the Leader’s Standard

In Nazi Germany, Hitler craftily, over time, maneuvered himself into a position of absolute power. He used the disastrous Weimar Republic to convince ordinary Germans of his personal prejudicial view that Jews and Communists were completely responsible for Germany’s problems (instead of pointing the finger at where it actually came from – the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles).

He claimed that he and he alone could save the country from its problems, and fed on mythical imagery of the Germanic Teutonic Knights to rally the populace to follow a standard: Hitler’s standard of pure Aryan perfection. Anything that fell outside of that standard was to be rejected as un-German and a threat to the state. In fact, according to historians, Himmler deliberately molded the SS to be his vision of a reincarnation of the old Germanic Teutonic Order – despite the fact that the whole story of the Germanic Teutonic Knights was a myth.

History shows us how he and his Nazi leadership used this mythic imagery and his personal antisemitic prejudices to mold the country’s psyche to following him blindly as the savior of Germany, enduring economic and social changes to adhere to Hitler’s standard.

The Comparison

Today, Trump’s MAGA doctrine shows the beginnings of the same type of behavior that we saw in Nazi Germany.

Economic Retaliation

Economically, he has declared his intention to place tariffs on goods and even on whole countries that will not support his plans of limiting international trade in favor of an isolationist view of American productivity.

He has already begun the process of economically damaging his perceived enemies, by actually firing all government employees in the so-called “DEI” sector. It’s fully expected that this economic retaliation will continue against any person, group, or country that he deems to be unacceptable according to his MAGA doctrine.

Social Retaliation

Socially, he has already sought revenge on people and groups whom his MAGA doctrine deems unacceptable, including gay, lesbian, and transgender people. He signed executive orders nullifying Federal laws and regulations that specifically prohibited discrimination against various racial, ethnic, and social groups.

This action paves the way for his MAGA adherents to openly and “legally” discriminate against and take revenge on gays, lesbians, transgender persons, also Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and other racial and ethnic groups, as well as religious groups including Jews and Muslims, all of whom MAGA adherents have made absolutely clear that they oppose.

A Personal Comment

I do want to pause here to say that I personally and religiously disagree with the concept that someone can actually be a gender other than their biological sex. As a medical provider, there is no question from a biological standpoint that there are only two sexes. And while biology sometimes mutates and causes sex-related issues in an individual, this is rare and should not be a basis for discrimination.

Likewise, despite my personal views, people who identify as transgender are still human beings and as such, are worthy of respect. I don’t feel that we should be castigating or discriminating against transgender people; rather, I believe we should be counseling them out of a sense of love and respect, to help them understand why they feel as they do, and if possible, help them to see if the choice they’re making is one they choose to continue for the rest of their lives.

Suppression of Opposition to the Leader

Historically, we’ve seen dictators and despots, from Hitler to Putin, using influence, propaganda, and even violence, to tamp down opposition to their leadership and their rule.

There are so many examples of this throughout history, that I would strongly recommend the reader to review world history if you don’t understand what I’m saying.

Taking Hitler’s example as we have been throughout this piece, he created paramilitary forces including the Gestapo and the SS (and earlier, the SA) to violently suppress opposition to Nazi rule.

Under Nazi control, the German Reichstag passed the “Malicious Practices Act”, which made it a crime to speak out against the Nazi government or to criticize its leaders. This law made even the smallest expression of dissent a crime. Those who were accused of “gossiping” or “making fun” of government officials could be arrested and sent to prison or a concentration camp.

This law was followed up by the “Enabling Act” that “enabled”, or gave unilateral authority, to the chancellor of Germany (Hitler), to punish anyone he personally deemed to be a threat to the state.

The Comparison

Now, of course there are no specific laws like this in America – yet.

But we have seen a massive amount of this suppression of opposition on the part of MAGA adherents, all over every bit of social media and among our own governmental leadership.

Using the Spin

All over traditional and social media, are absolutely bucketloads of video and written proof that MAGA politicians and leaders consistently ridicule and insult any criticism against them, including insulting the person voicing the criticism, but (not surprisingly) never directly addressing or debating the points raised in the criticism itself.

By using insults instead of direct address, these politicians rely on political spin to deflect attention from their improper actions, and at the same time, emboldening their supporters to keep them believing that the MAGA doctrine is the only correct worldview.

Fake News

This is exactly why the MAGA rank-and-file completely refuse to believe any information published by any person, organization, or entity, that is not fully supportive of the MAGA doctrine. Trump himself laid the seed of this spin during his first run for the presidency, when he shamelessly – and falsely – declared news items that were in the least bit critical of himself or his campaign promises were “fake news.”

Trump then insultingly labeled the publishers of such so-called fake news as “lamestream media” and later, “legacy media”, making clear his inference that the traditional news outlets that have existed for many decades, were all just Democrat propaganda machines and only the new-media (social media) outlets that are loyal to him personally, are worthy to be trusted.

The Loyalists

These loyal “news” entities include NewsMax, One America News, and to a lesser degree, Fox News (that has seen some wavering of support for Trump and as such, condemnation from the MAGA rank-and-file).

In the social media arena, Trump’s loyalists include Daily Wire, Breitbart, IJR, and Media Research Center, among a number of others – many of which are simply shells of the same organization, publishing the exact same stories. The similarities of pieces from and appearance of IJR, Western Journalism, and Daily Wire is a perfect example of this.

These sites and organizations feature items and stories showing Trump’s statements and actions only in a positive light, declaring them to be right, proper, and as “saving” the nation. It makes no difference to these organizations whether or not the statements and actions they report in glowingly positive terms are objectively right or wrong in an ethical, moral, or legal context.

The constant stream of propaganda and misinformation from such social-media organizations is easily seen everywhere on Facebook, X, Truth Social, and other outlets.

Suppressing Opposition, Online

But when someone posts a comment pointing out the inconsistencies, errors, and outright falsehoods in the original post on these outlets, the commenter is either deluged with MAGA adherents hurling insults and obscenities, or the “offending” reply is simply hidden, blocked, or deleted.

Given that as of this moment, the MAGA party controls the executive and the legislative branches of the US government, the danger is very real that laws similar to the Enabling Act and the Malicious Practices Act could soon become reality in America.

This would mean that instead of simply insulting or ridiculing people who post critical responses to the propaganda stories, these people woudn’t find their responses simply hidden, blocked, or deleted, they could find themselves literally being arrested and prosecuted for sowing dissent against the state at the least, and for outright treason at the worst.

The Imminent Danger

Trump’s own executive orders thus far opened up entire swathes of society to discrimination and violent opposition. His actions against immigrants in this country are absolutely the same as the Nazi roundups and deportations of Jews and other “enemies of the state” to concentration camps.

His words and actions, and those of his followers, absolutely prove their intention and motivation to suppress any and all opposition by any means necessary – even violent means.

Trump’s actions in revoking security details for notable persons such as Dr Anthony Fauci – a person who legitimately has had death threats against him by MAGA adherents – only further prove the very real danger to anyone whom Trump and his MAGA followers view as an enemy.

So, Is Trump A Fascist?

As you can see, I haven’t included a lot of links to specific comments, speeches, videos, or news stories here for two reasons.

One, we’ve already provided a number of links referencing many of his comments throughout the “GOP Downfall” series.

Two, there are far too many to choose from, and the plain fact is that no one in the Trump administration or in the MAGA movement are even remotely attempting to hide their comments or actions, dispute them, or walk them back.

Reviewing The Evidence

So, now let’s review the evidence. MAGA doctrine holds the following proven fascist views:

• An ultra-nationalist, an anti-immigrant sentiment with a fear of cultural dilution, and a desire for supremacy of the white American “race” and superiority in the world, with the subjugation of all others.
• Immigrants, refugees, ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ+ individuals are to blame for societal problems, and “liberals”, their perceived political enemies, are to blame for the country’s economic and political issues and for the perceived lack of American superiority in the world.
• Globalization and multiculturalism are undermining national sovereignty and the leadership of America as the “greatest nation in the world” to which all others must pay homage, and as such must be eliminated.
• It places the leader – Donald J. Trump – in the godlike position of supreme leader, and only promotes those other governmental leaders who have and will continue to demonstrate absolute 100% unwavering loyalty to Trump alone – not to the party, but to Trump.
• The values, beliefs, and vision of the leader are of supreme importance and are the only guideline to which all of America – government, business, and society – must adhere completely.
• The word of the leader (Trump) is always true and is never false, and that it is anathema for anyone or any entity to question that. Anyone who does so is an enemy of the state and must be dealt with.
• Social media and online platforms are rightfully theirs for the exclusive use of promoting the doctrine, recruiting others, shaping public opinion to fully believe in and accept only that which is approved by the leader and to consider all else false, and suppressing those who do not agree by any means possible or necessary, including violence.

The Answer

Looking at all of the evidence, there is only one correct answer to the questions I posited above.

While Donald Trump is not a Nazi, he is absolutely a fascist.

And while MAGA is not the Nazi party, neither are they truly the traditional Republican party. Republicans are not fascists. But MAGA is absolutely a fascist movement and as such, cannot be considered truly Republican.