Local opinion: Is Trump a Fascist?

A number of your letter writers have complained about others using the term "fascist." Due to its use since WWII, labeling someone as a fascist has taken on the air of an insult. In response, I have engaged in this effort to see if labeling Donald Trump and his supporters as modern-day fascists can be justified.

George Orwell noted in 1944 that the term had been used to denigrate diverse positions. He said that while fascism is "a political and economic system" that was inconvenient to define, "as used, the word 'Fascism' is almost entirely meaningless." The advent of Donald Trump may have changed this.

The term originally described the political system put forward by Mussolini. Over time and with the advent of other dictators it took on a broader meaning. Here is how Merriam Webster now defines the term.

"Fascism (noun) — 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."

According to Wikipedia, Fascism rejects assertions that violence is inherently negative or pointless, instead viewing imperialism, political violence, and war as means to national rejuvenation. Fascists often advocate for the establishment of a totalitarian one-party state, and for a market economy in which the state plays a strong directive role through economic interventionist policies with the principal goal of achieving national economic self-sufficiency. Fascism's extreme authoritarianism and nationalism often manifest as a belief in racial purity or a master race, usually blended with some variant of racism or discrimination against a demonized "other," such as Jews, homosexuals, transgender people, ethnic minorities, or immigrants.

Trump has voiced his endorsement of violence on many occasions. Many of his supporters have taken his call for violence seriously. ABC News finds 54 cases invoking 'Trump' in connection with violence, threats, and alleged assaults. And he refused, at the request of many (including his own daughter), to intercede in the violence of Jan. 6. He now promises to pardon the violent mob.

The economic argument is harder to make as Republicans have traditionally resisted government interference in the economy. However, he promotes massive tariffs, self-sufficiency (America first) and energy independence (drill baby drill).

Most notoriously, he continues to demonize four of the five groups listed by Wikipedia, particularly immigrants. Examples are legion.

Roger Griffin describes fascism as "a genus of political ideology whose mythic core in its various permutations is a form of populist ultranationalism." Without ultranationalism, there is no "genuine fascism," according to Griffin. Griffin further describes fascism as having three core components: "(i) the rebirth myth, ("Make America Great Again") (ii) populist ultra-nationalism ("America First"), and (iii) the myth of decadence ("we're in a failing nation"). Trump often refers to the U.S. as a third-world country. Remember, he alone can fix it.

Robert Paxton says: "(fascism is) a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion." This seems to nicely describe the behavior of Trump and his supporters since 2016.

There are numerous other examples of authors describing fascism that also describe the behavior of Trump and his supporters. It appears to me that, based on commonly held definitions of the term, Donald Trump has adopted the mannerisms and language of fascism. Is it fair to label him a fascist? To quote Sonia Sotomayor, "When I see a bird that walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck."

Stephen Brown is a retired chemistry teacher who spent 37 years helping University students understand the chemical basis of life, the universe and everything.

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