[Updated]
Despite the fact that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and that Republicans in general have not done well at the polls over the past six years, the former president and his MAGA movement continue to have a strong hold on the GOP. Both Trump and his right wing followers remain unpopular with the general public, but they have seized a dangerous hold on those who align with the conservatives in this country. And the extremism from MAGA and its leader appears to be getting worse as we head into the 2024 presidential election. This movement has always shown strong signs of fascism, and these aspects have made themselves increasingly more evident as Trump targets a return to the White House.
Fascism is defined simply enough by Meriam-Webster as “a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition”.
We saw the rise of fascism when it took control of Germany and Italy in the 1930s and eventually led to the World War II. We have since seen other fascist and similarly authoritarian leaders impose their will on nations and impact international politics such as Mobutu Sese Seko in Congo, Augusto Pinochet in Chile, Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, and Vladimir Putin in Russia. (Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s book Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present does an excellent job of covering these leaders.)
Donald Trump has regularly praised authoritarian leaders, and he demonstrated a leaning towards dictatorial rule when he was in office. In addition, his promises on how he would handle a second term suggest he is leaning even heavier in this direction as the polls are about to open for the 2024 election. Much of what we have seen from Trump and the MAGA movements echoes the fascism we have seen from other Strongman leaders and that should certainly act as a warning to this country on the impending threat. And Project 2025, which Trump has claimed he know nothing about but which mirrors many of his plans for a second term, essentially acts as a blueprint for a fascist government.
Historian Lawrence Britt studied prior fascist movements and came up with fourteen common elements which he outlined in his article “Fascism, Anyone?”. That was published in 2003 with a warning that fascism posed a threat to the free world at the beginning of the 21st century, and it has proven quite prescient. The danger is even more apparent in the current political environment and the people in this country should pay attention to the warning signs. They should also ignore the claims that using the term fascist is a “divisive” term because that is just an attempt to spin the argument in a way that makes Trump and his MAGA followers look like the victims (which I discuss in more detail here).
Here is a look at the elements observed by Britt and how those follow closely with the words and actions of Trump as well as the MAGA movement:
1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism: This is something that Trump has seized upon, but we have seen much of this from the Republican party in general going back to Reagan and possibly even earlier. This puts symbols and slogans like the flag, the pledge of allegiance, and the Star Spangled Banner above the actual institutions of Democracy. That has been quite evident with the near deification of the stars and stripes and the anathema placed on anybody who chooses not to follow the etiquette around the pledge or national anthem as well as the vilification of those who protest against them or the flag. However, the Constitution gives people the right to freedom of expression while offering no protection to national symbols or slogans (nor does it even mention them).
Nationalism was once considered an objectionable term, largely because of its links to Nazism and Fascism. Yet the MAGA movement is welcoming of the label and Trump has outright called himself a nationalist. In addition, the Christian Nationalist movement has aligned itself closely with Trump and MAGA as they crusade to impose their religious ideology on the country while elevating the former president to the level of messiah. Even more concerning, many of the racist, white nationalist movements align closely with Trump and he has not denounced their support.
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights: Trump’s contempt for human rights has been on display since before he took office and continues to prove very concerning. He attacked the free press early in his first campaign, and he immediately launched an attack on the rights of immigrants–particularly Muslims–once he was in office. He tried to put down protests, going so far as wanting to shoot demonstrators. The abortion legislation that followed the fall of Roe v. Wade after Trump stacked the Supreme Court has led to a significant attack on the rights of women. And Trump is currently promising to retaliate against his opponents and create internment camps for immigrants and others who oppose him if he gets back in power. These are only a few examples of his most egregious attacks on human rights, and if he did return to power many more would follow.
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause: This has been quite evident with Trump from the beginning, starting with his attack on the free press as “Fake News” and as biased against him and conservatives. He and MAGA have continued to create faux enemies by demonizing immigrants, whipping up fears of socialism, and attacking the LGBTQ+ community. They have gotten the most leverage from illegal immigrants with their unfounded claims of an invasion from across the border, convincing many that it is real despite the lack of evidence, but they regularly pivot to whichever enemy proves particularly useful in their messaging.
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism: This is actually one element of fascism that has not been too evident with Trump, and he has actually shown a fair amount of hostility to the military (more on that here). He has called veterans who have died in battle “losers”, attacked John McCain for his time spent as a prisoner of war, disrespected fallen soldiers at the Arlington National Cemetery, and more. Trump himself was a draft dodger, so that may factor into his contempt toward the military. But he has been more than willing to try and use armed forces as a tool to carry out his attacks on human rights, and he did try to stage a fascist-style military parade while still in office.
5. Rampant sexism: This is one element that was not quite as pronounced with Trump and MAGA, but you can still see signs of it from him and the movement, and once J.D. Vance joined the ticket it became much more apparent. Women have managed to make some progress with securing important positions in the Republican Party over the past few decades, so that has stifled the sexism to an extent. But Trump himself has regularly demonstrated strong sexist tendencies, and the anti-abortion laws that followed the Dobbs decision by a stacked Supreme Court have certainly proven to be a major setback for the rights of women. And despite the fact that some women have worked their way into leadership positions in the GOP, that party is still heavily dominated by white males.
As for Vance, it did not take long for him to start spouting some divisive rhetoric once he joined the ticket, much of which can be considered sexist if not misogynist. His infamous “childless cat lady” line came before he joined the ticket, but he has since reiterated it multiple times. With that, he is basically attacking women who choose a career over having children and suggesting that they are shirking what he considers their child-bearing responsibilities. This is clearly a sexist stance, and sadly, it is now getting amplified by Trump and others in the MAGA movement.
6. A controlled mass media: This is not something Trump has yet, but he is working in that direction and the right wing media outlets are more than happy to assist. He started instilling doubt in the press before the 2016 election with his claims of “Fake News” (echoing Hitler’s “Lying Press” assertions as he rose to power). Trump has also shown plenty of willingness to punish media sources or companies that attack him in the press or present him in a negative light, and he will certainly be more aggressive on that if he returns to power. Right wing media outlets like Fox News, Breitbart, OAN, and NewsMax have tended to give him favorable coverage, often helping to spread the misinformation and outright lies peddled by Trump. If he does return to the White House, he will almost certainly utilize these outlets as “official” news sources as he seeks to control the press much like Putin currently does in Russia, and Project 2025 has elements in place to help with this.
7. Obsession with national security: This has been evident with Trump from several perspectives. He has long touted border security as essential to the nation, falsely claiming that an “invasion” of illegal immigrants poses an immediate threat (even though he blocked a bipartisan border deal). He has also pushed isolationist policies and threatened to withdraw the U.S. from NATO claiming that it does not properly protect our interests. He also denounced the Black Lives Matter protests (while ignoring the calls for social justice they promoted) and has falsely claimed that Antifa (which he incorrectly links closely with BLM) and left-wing activists pose a threat to the nation’s security.
Up next, a look at the remaining traits of fascism as identified by Lawrence Britt and how these are evident in Trump and the MAGA movement. You can read that here.