Back in 2019, I became internet famous in India for a piece on fascism I wrote on January 31, 2017. That was only eleven days into Donald Trump’s presidency. The article was called The 12 Early Warning Signs of Fascism. Here is the list I used:
EARLY WARNING SIGNS OF FASCISM
- Powerful and continuing nationalism
- Disdain for human rights
- Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
- Rampant sexism
- Controlled mass media
- Obsession with national security
- Religion and government intertwined
- Corporate power protected
- Labor power suppressed
- Disdain for intellectual and the arts
- Obsession with crime and punishment
- Rampant cronyism and corruption
I asked how many items on the list Trump had already ticked off. I acknowledged that, while he was violating the Emoluments Clause to the Constitution “by using his position as president to attract foreign patronage to his hotels,” is was too early to accuse his cronyism and corruption of being rampant. Still, even at that early stage of his presidency, the answer was “all of them.”
So, I’ve been at the forefront of warning that Trumpism would lead to fascism.
As we enter the final two weeks of the 2024 presidential campaign, the biggest story in the news is that one of Trump’s former chiefs of staff has his own definition of fascism.
The former general [John Kelly] held nothing back, arguing that Trump could fit the bill of a “fascist.”
“Well, looking at the definition of fascism: It’s a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy,” he told The Times.
“So, certainly, in my experience, those are the kinds of things that he thinks would work better in terms of running America,” he added.
He’s joined by Mark Milley, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the military under Trump:
“[Trump] is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country,” he said.
Milley reportedly told Watergate reporter Bob Woodward that Trump “fascist to the core.”
Concerns about Trump’s autocratic inclinations have also been shared by James Mattis and Mark Esper who both served as Secretary of Defense during Trump’s presidency. Esper, in particular, believes Trump is telling the truth when he threatens to use the military to attack Americans citizens who voice opposition to him.
Maybe these warnings will resonate with enough people to help Kamala Harris win the presidency. If not, we’re going to find out what it’s like to live in a fascist state. But even if Harris wins, it won’t change that her political opposition, which will constitute nearly half the voting public, now wants fascism.
In the event that Trump loses and Harris assumes office, his active political career will probably be over. I don’t see him running again in four years, although it’s certainly a possibility. He’ll be in his 80’s by then, and possibly in prison. And maybe the thirst for fascism will abate somewhat without a charismatic leader to galvanize it. But my suspicion is that this fascist impulse won’t go away on the right, at least in the opposition to a Harris administration.
The thing is, and I’ve written this many times over the last eight years, that right-wing populism always takes the form of fascism. It flourishes especially when left-wing populism is weak. And I’m no fan of left-wing populism when it takes the form of Marxism or petulant socialism. But there needs to be a hard left that makes demands on the center-left, and serves as a pressure outlet for the frustrations and deprivations of the underclasses and struggling working classes of the country. This used to the province of labor unions, which when effective always straddled the line between radicalism and pragmatism. As they’ve weakened, right-wing populism has filled the vacuum. This is how oligarchs get their way, and it’s why Trump’s only major accomplishment in office was a giant tax cut for the super wealthy.
My point is that we can’t diffuse the fascist impulse of half the country without a left-wing populist alternative, and if that isn’t going to be done by labor unions, or labor unions alone, then there needs to be something else.
Left-wing populism shares some commonalities with right-wing populism, chiefly the “identification of enemies as a unifying cause.” Traditionally, this has been Wall Street or capitalists or bankers. At the extremes it can threaten people’s civil or human rights. But the point isn’t to give power to the far left. The point is to provide a non-fascist alternative to fascism so we don’t lose our country’s commitment to representative governance and its commitment to a pluralism and inclusivity or its protections for the weak and oppressed.
Do we want an all-powerful executive ordering millions into camps, suppressing the free press, and attacking dissent with the military?
That’s what Trump promises, but it’s also apparently what half the country is ready to sign up for. If Trump wins, dissent is going to be hard and much of it may have to go underground. But if he loses, governing is going to be hard, and eventually we will lose. The biggest part of the job is going to be preparing the country to survive when it happens. And that means that somehow, people need to be peeled away from Trumpism as the only alternative to center-left rule.
With respect to warnings about fascism, I’m not a Johnny-come-lately. Hopefully, I have some credibility on this issue. It may arrive in full flower in under two weeks, or it may come in four years. But if nothing changes, it will come.
