Do you think that Donald Trump is a fascist?

[The Arizonan]

Do you think he is?

I think he definitely is.

[Dr. Arch]

I think he wants to be, but knows the system doesn't let him.

[Sumner 1868]

He's not alert enough to have a political ideology.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Yes and no.

In broad terms of what he says he fits the definition of fascism I learned in school perfectly. He talks about new national greatness (Make America Great Again), hyper-nationalist (America First), populist ("drain the swamp"). He also fits other parts of classical fascist regimes: scapegoating and fearmongering minorities, alliance with amoral big businesses, anti-intellectualism, racism, shallow religiosity. Trump walks like a fascist, looks like a fascist, and quacks like a fascist.

But... he's an insane, stupid, incompetent liar. So maybe he's just an aspirational fascist. Or maybe really he's just an incoherent mess, and his various insanities and personal evil look more like fascism than anything else.

And in terms of results, he's a terrible fascist. Fascism, while it may (or may not) only have a minority or plurality of the populace in a fascist state supporting it, typically tries to control the state, instill unity through fear, propaganda, and an authoritarian government, and then get aggressive. Trump isn't doing that.

Instead, Trump is tearing us apart. He's weakening our international position, pushing our government into mostly-dysfunctional shambles, and does everything possible to set us at each others' throats.

Judged by his actions instead of his words, Trump doesn't look like a fascist, but like someone bent on destroying the US.

[Mr. Reactionary]

No (Not a hack).

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

Just because Fascists voted for him doesn't make him one of them.

[SATW]

No.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Lolno

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

I think he wants to be, but knows the system doesn't let him.

Agreed. If this were some third world global south country he would be Venezuela-ing the place.

[pbrower2a]

The infamous Fourteen Warning Signs, according to Laurence Britt.


1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism -- Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

As Samuel Butler said, "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel", and patriotism to Donald Trump means loyalty to him and his ideal of plutocracy. Yes.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights -- Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to 'look the other way' or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

We have heard the President urge people to beat up his opponents... Yes.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause -- The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

Already in practice as an M.O. Yes.

4. Supremacy of the Military -- Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

In no way contradicted. The President wants his fight, and he might get it.

5. Rampant Sexism -- The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and antigay legislation and national policy.

"Grab 'em by their (crotches)!" Yes.

6. Controlled Mass Media -- Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or through sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in wartime, is very common.

Work in progress, as with Sinclair Broadcasting and FoX Propaganda Channel. Yes.

7. Obsession with National Security -- Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

President Trump has nothing to offer but Fear itself.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined -- Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

Donald Trump may be the most godless President ever, although the Gospel of Greed seems to be the ethical basis of Trump's "new America". If he does not use religion, then other members of the economic elite would gladly demand obedient suffering in This World by the masses in return for promises of Pie in the Ky When You Die.

Weak connection if any.

9. Corporate Power is Protected -- The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

Donors, and not the People, are the concern of the dominant Party. Don;t fool yourself: we practically have a single-party system for now. Yes.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed -- Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely or are severely suppressed.

I am surprised that the Republican Party has yet to push a national Right-to-Work *for much less)  law in an increasingly plutocratic America.The only unions that the President likes are police unions.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts -- Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

Anti-intellectualism is a core value of Donald Trump. Yes.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment -- Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses, and even forego civil liberties, in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

Donald Trump stands strictly for punitive justice.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -- Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions, and who use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

This is the most corrupt Presidency ever. Yes.



14. Fraudulent Elections -- Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against (or even the assassination of) opposition candidates, the use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and the manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

To be determined on 2016. If the pattern of manipulation continues and if the President or his Party has co-ordinated with a foreign government or with mobsters, then our democracy is dead.  

Eleven yes, one (religion) ambiguous at best, one possibly on the agenda but not yet achieved, and one unproven but far from being disproved.   Ouch!

Umberto Eco has a more erudite and more subtle set of fascist markers.


1.    The cult of tradition. “One has only to look at the syllabus of every fascist movement to find the major traditionalist thinkers. The Nazi gnosis was nourished by traditionalist, syncretistic, occult elements.”

2.   The rejection of modernism. “The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity. In this sense Ur-Fascism can be defined as irrationalism.”

3.    The cult of action for action’s sake. “Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.”

4.   Disagreement is treason. “The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture the scientific community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge.”

5.    Fear of difference. “The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition.”
 
6.   Appeal to social frustration. “One of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups.”

7.    The obsession with a plot. “The followers must feel besieged. The easiest way to solve the plot is the appeal to xenophobia.”

8.    The enemy is both strong and weak. “By a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.”

9.    Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. “For Ur-Fascism there is no struggle for life but, rather, life is lived for struggle.”

10.    Contempt for the weak. “Elitism is a typical aspect of any reactionary ideology.”

11.    Everybody is educated to become a hero. “In Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm. This cult of heroism is strictly linked with the cult of death.”

12.     Machismo and weaponry. “Machismo implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality.”
 
13.   Selective populism. “There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.”
    
14. Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak. “All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.”

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http://www.openculture.com/2016/11/umberto-eco-makes-a-list-of-the-14-common-features-of-fascism.html

[GoTfan]

No. Actual fascists are actually competent to some degree.

[Mr. Reactionary]

http://www.researchforprogress.us/topic/436/fascism-neofascism/fascism-umberto-eco-slam-dunks-lawrence-britt/

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[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Trump is NOT a fascist. He is a demagogue.

[KingSweden]

He's not a fascist. He is however, quite plainly, an authoritarian. And as Tim said, a demagogue

[Santander]

No (not an idiot)

[136or142]

No. Actual fascists are actually competent to some degree.

It's a complete myth that Mussolini was competent and Franco was hopelessly incompetent.

[136or142]

Although Ghost of Ruin ultimately rejected his own term, I think 'aspirational fascist' is a good description of Trump and for the same reasons that Ghost of Ruin advanced:

Trump is too incoherent to have any consistent ideological beliefs and it seems increasingly clear he wanted to be President simply for ego purposes and to further enrich himself, however, to the degree that he does outline support for broad views it is very much in the direction of fascism: authoritarian, racist, possibly crony capitalist (not just to benefit himself), violent...

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

No. Actual fascists are actually competent to some degree.

It's a complete myth that Mussolini was competent and Franco was hopelessly incompetent.

I don't know much about Franco, but with Mussolini it was just that the Italian military was incompetent.

[TheSaint250]

Of course not.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Yes, and the Bushes too, and Newt Gingrich, and many other leaders of the modern GOP.

Look up the characteristics of fascism, and they fit every single one.

Every. Single. One.

[Famous Mortimer]

To the extent that Donald Trump is a fascist, it's a very good thing he is a fascist. He doesn't support any of the bad things associated with fascism (doing away with electoral democracy, genocide) but he supports many of the good or neutral things about fascism (economic populism, patriotism).

[pbrower2a]

Yes, and the Bushes too, and Newt Gingrich, and many other leaders of the modern GOP.

Look up the characteristics of fascism, and they fit every single one.

Every. Single. One.

Britt's "Fourteen signs" were intended for Dubya. Trump is even worse.

To the extent that Donald Trump is a fascist, it's a very good thing he is a fascist. He doesn't support any of the bad things associated with fascism (doing away with electoral democracy, genocide) but he supports many of the good or neutral things about fascism (economic populism, patriotism).

Yes, but his Party might use its power to change electoral laws. Thus a gun license (which skews to the Right) might be a valid ID, but a student ID (which skews right)  might not.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

George H.W. Bush was bad too. His supporters in '88 got violent.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

No. Actual fascists are actually competent to some degree.

It's a complete myth that Mussolini was competent and Franco was hopelessly incompetent.

I don't know much about Franco, but with Mussolini it was just that the Italian military was incompetent.

I thought it was more that the Italian military just wasn't eager to kill or die in Mussolinis wars?

And didn't Hemingway once catch Mussolini pretending to read a book he was actually holding upside down?

[ProudModerate2]

He's not a fascist. He is however, quite plainly, an authoritarian. And as Tim said, a demagogue