Does American fascism exist? Professor and historian Daniel Bessner addresses the question in a New Republic piece that is certainly worth reading, especially for those who want to put our current moment in historical context.
I want to emphasize that I’m not a supporter of Trump’s, and the idea that he may never face any consequences for his efforts to steal the 2020 election with a fake electors plot is beyond unjust. His leadership is chaotic and destabilizing. He drives divides and anger among the American people. I have no love for Trump at all.
But I’m also getting pretty annoyed with the Democratic party’s hyperbolic strategy of equating him to Hitler or a literal fascist. Is Trump really a fascist who’s plotting to be a dictator? For one, I have a hard time believing that a guy who didn’t exploit Covid to take authoritarian control of the country is genuinely interested in being a dictator. When protests and riots broke out in the summer of 2020, he waited for state governors to request National Guard troops for help. Of course, the law requires that state leaders make the request before the feds do anything, and Trump followed those laws even as he railed against various states who refused the help.
There is also no evidence that Trump has ever taken any steps to alter the structural conditions necessary to accommodate fascist rule. Sure, he was able to confirm conservative federal judges, which would be the case under any other Republican president. But keep in mind that Trump was able to do so with the help of Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, who made a deal with Mitch McConnell to fast track confirmation of Trump’s appointments.
Speaking of Democrats, they sure have a funny way of showing how seriously they take the “threat” of Trump’s fascism. They deprived Democratic voters of the opportunity to choose the best possible candidate to run against Trump by first hiding President Joe Biden’s mental decline from the public and then anointing Kamala Harris as his replacement. With only a handful of months left in the presidential race it was too late to carry out a primary process. So, we ended up with a candidate that was deeply unpopular from the jump.
Democrats also didn’t pursue prosecution of Trump’s fake electors scheme until it was clear that he was going to run for President again. For me, the “Trump is a fascist and we must save democracy” line is simply a way to scare voters into supporting Democrats who really haven’t offered substantive policy proposals, only “vibes.”
Trump says a lot of dumb and unhinged crap that understandably scares people. I understand why my view that Trump is not an actual fascist upsets people. But that is not to say that I believe another Trump term would be good for the country. I just refuse to feed into a campaign tactic to instill fear among the American electorate.
Unless you want to be fearful. In that case, and by all means, go for it! But listen to my conversation with Bessner and read his piece first. If you remain unconvinced, that’s okay. You can keep yelling at me.
Is Trump Fascist?