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ā⦠The exercise of comparing fascismās various forms is not precise. If historians object that Trump is not a copy of Mussolini or Hitler or Franco, the reply is yesābut so what? Trump is building something new on old principles. He is showing us in real time what 21st-century American fascism looks like.
If, however, Trump is a fascist president, that does not mean that America is a fascist country. The courts, the states, and the media remain independent of him, and his efforts to browbeat them will likely fail. He may lose his grip on Congress in November. He has not succeeded in molding public opinion, except against himself. He has outrun the mandate of his voters, his coalition is fracturing, and he has neglected toolsthat allow presidents to make enduring change. He and his party may defy the Constitution, but they cannot rewrite it, thank goodness.
So the United States, once the worldās exemplary liberal democracy, is now a hybrid state combining a fascist leader and a liberal Constitution; but no, it has not fallen to fascism. And it will not.
In which case, is there any point in calling Trump a fascist, even if true? Doesnāt that alienate his voters? Wouldnāt it be better just to describe his actions without labeling him controversially?
Until recently, I thought so. No longer.
The resemblances are too many and too strong to deny. Americans who support liberal democracy need to recognize what weāre dealing with in order to cope with it, and to recognize something, one must name it. Trump has revealed himself, and we must name what we see.ā


