The Republican Party’s Descent into Fascism
The Trump administration has been responsible for a plethora of policies that are both morally and fiscally bankrupt. The Trump tax cuts overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest Americans, increased the deficit to historic levels, and widened the wealth gap. The Trump administration instituted a “zero tolerance” policy, which indiscriminately separated children from their families at the border, and 545 children are still unable to find their parents as of this writing. Donald Trump’s approval rating has been consistently and historically low for an incumbent president. Despite all of these factors, including the tweets, the erratic behavior and shocking language unbecoming of any president, Trump has remained highly popular within the Republican Party.
Fascism is a word that has been propelled into the common civic lexicon in the United States, as a result of the Trump administration and of the polarization of our politics. Conservatives at times have referred to President Obama as a fascist and a socialist, fumbling for a response when asked to explain how one can be both a fascist and a socialist. Fascist and socialist labels have been thrown around enough in American politics to almost become cliché, devoid of any actual meaning and instead weaponized as political rhetoric. Keeping this in mind, it is not an exaggeration nor is it meaningless rhetoric to describe what has happened to the Republican Party as of late as a descent into fascism. The Republican Party has adopted a fascist ideology in an attempt to hold on to power, no matter the detriment to American institutions or public faith in the electoral process.
What is Fascism?
When most people think of fascism, the first thing that probably comes to mind is Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology that demands adherence to a leader and an agenda. It operates by suppressing the opposition, spreading propaganda and disinformation, and appealing to nationalistic instincts. Dissenting opinions are a nonstarter. The questioning of authority is criminal. Party dogma reigns supreme above all else.
You may be thinking “some of these characteristics may describe Donald Trump and his administration, but they didn’t exterminate their enemies or carry out mass atrocities.” While some Trump supporters may want to give themselves a pat on the back because the person they support didn’t cause a genocide, let’s first consider how the Holocaust came to be. When Hitler assumed power, his first actions were not to immediately begin the Holocaust. Hitler rose to power in 1933 and the systemic extermination of the European Jewry began in 1941. Between the years of 1933 and 1941, fascist ideology allowed Hitler to consolidate power, and lay the political groundwork for the atrocities that would take place.
In short, the Holocaust was a product of fascism, but was not necessarily fascism in and of itself. The ideology of fascism and the economic security of the German people helped Hitler maintain support and expand Nazism. In the lead up to the Holocaust, Hitler and his party targeted opponents, journalists, and sought to stamp out and humiliate dissent. The Nazi party appealed to the German people not by campaigning on anti-semitism but by appealing to nationalistic instincts, being proud of your country and making life better for the “common man.” Ian Kershaw, one of the preeminent historians of Nazi Germany, makes the following observation in his book, ‘The Hitler Myth’:
And, as I hope to show, admiration for Hitler rested less on bizarre and arcane precepts of Nazi ideology than on social and political values — if often distorted or represented in extreme form — recognizable in many societies other than the Third Reich. To that extent, however strange the defication of Hitler by the people of a modern industrial nation may seem to us, its causes contain a message which is not altogether comforting.
Hitler’s popularity and the rise of Nazism was a result of nationalism, appeals to ordinary Germans, and a strong affinity for community. As Kershaw notes, this is disconcerting because the ideology of fascism relies on appeals to ordinary people. Dictatorships can indeed be popular, and support for a particular person or set of ideas can triumph over the ideology of democracy or the values of decency. In the Trump era, it is relatively easy to draw parallels between fascism and the political toxins often spewed from Trump’s mouth or Twitter account. Perhaps even more disconcerting, is the continued support of Trump from the Republican Party, no matter how blatantly vile, crude, or false his behavior, actions, or statements.
Stamping Out Dissent: Attacks on the Free Press
One constant of Donald Trump’s campaign, and of his presidency, has been an all out assault on the free press. Trump’s coded language for attacks on the press is notoriously “fake news.” Any reporting that is even mildly critical of the president or his behavior is deemed fake news. It’s hard to miss the irony of someone who consistently lies calling out reputable and well-established news organizations such as The Washington Post and The New York Times, which have been around since the dawn of the modern American republic. The idea of a free press was revered by the founders and has long been a respected facet of American democracy, regardless of political affiliation. While presidential administrations have always had rocky relationships with the press, the Trump presidency has thoroughly debased the essential duty that a free press plays in any free society.
Trump’s public attacks on the media have been intended to discredit the media. By discrediting large swaths of reputable news organizations, he can engrain in his supporters the idea that anything they negatively report about him is obviously going to be fake or a lie. His goal is to sow doubt about the media, so that even people who are level-headed may at least consider the possibility that a negative story about him or his administration might be fabricated, no matter the credibility of the organization or how much of the reporting is substantiated. It’s a transparently sinister tactic that not only discredits negative news about Trump, but inspires radical supporters and others to threaten the media and put reporters in danger. It is inevitable that the only remaining credible sources of news are organizations which are publicly supported by Trump, and Trump himself. That’s the goal, that’s how fascism works, the consolidation of power by suppressing and threatening the opposition — which is, anyone or anything who is detrimental to your grasp on power — such as reporters, whose job it is to report the truth even when it’s unfavorable.
Trump himself has recognized the fervent loyalty of his supporters and their commitment to him as the only legitimate vessel for information, stating confidently that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and not lose any voters.”
The ability to act with impunity or without regard for consequences is a tenant of fascism. No matter what Trump said or did, his supporters rationalized it by deflecting and employing whataboutisms: “all politicians do it!” or “what about that one time when Obama…” This was a common refrain to justify despicable or wildly outlandish statements and behavior.
The sowing of doubt is also a tactic of genocide deniers. If it’s too ridiculous or unbelievable for denialists to wholesale reject that a genocide took place, they instead cause confusion about who and what to believe. That way, even if you don’t completely reject the idea that the Holocaust or the Armenian genocide took place, you feel as if you have to “consider all sides,” whether there’s merit or not. In this vain, viewing sources as equally credible no matter where they come from, it is easy to create doubt and sow confusion. For the deniers, if you don’t outright believe that something isn’t true, the next best thing is to at least get people to consider all sources as equal. For example, who’s to say that TrumpIsAwesome.com is less reliable than The Washington Post? You have to consider all sides, even though TrumpIsAwesome.com has no reputable reporting history and was just established 3 years ago.
The fact of the matter is that not all sources are created equal. News organizations aren’t equally reputable, “experts” aren’t equally reputable. This is where information illiteracy has had major consequences for America. The inability to evaluate sources or information is costly to the civic process. Political polarization is compounded by this problem, that people can’t even agree on the same facts, let alone the same opinion. Trump has capitalized on information illiteracy, political polarization, and has further muddied the waters to advance his political career and his hold on power. These have also become convenient for his supporters to justify their continued support for someone who disregards institutions and a respect for democracy.
Scapegoating Our Challenges and Losses
A common political tactic that has remained constant throughout the ages has been that of scapegoating. Essentially, scapegoating is what politicians do to shift blame and responsibility from themselves to others, in order to avoid the consequences or ramifications of their actions. It’s the adult version of “she did it, not me!” Political scapegoating has proven to be an effective strategy throughout history, from the early European witch hunts, to blaming immigrants for the state of the economy. Hitler used the European Jewry as a scapegoat for the problems facing Germany following World War I and the Treaty of Versailles.
Trump would use this strategy throughout his presidency. Blaming immigrants for America’s problems, the media and Democrats for his improprieties, the “deep state” for the criminality of his campaign and administration — every issue he faced had a quick explanation — and it never included him being at fault. That he could rely on a significant majority of the Republican Party to support him despite his diametric opposition to the values that they have traditionally espoused, was key to his grasp on power. The willingness of Republicans to support Trump no matter the circumstances, the logic, or decency, is likewise an exercise in their desire to hold onto power. Is it worth it to support someone who is morally bankrupt, debases our institutions, and makes a mockery of our constitution as long as we get the policies we want? For the modern Republican Party, the answer is yes. What values, decency, and logic are Republicans willing to trade in exchange for power? Apparently all of them.
Alarm Bells: The 2020 Election
Throughout Trump’s presidency, he and his supporters have demonstrated an affinity for the ideology of fascism (suppressing the opposition, deflecting and scapegoating, disinformation and propaganda, unwavering obedience and support, indifference to what is happening, all in the pursuit of power.) However, perhaps no event has more crystallized the route the Republican Party has taken than the 2020 election and its aftermath. Similar to the lead up of the 2016 election, Donald Trump began saying that the election would be rigged and that mail-in ballots can’t be trusted, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. What he was really doing here is laying the groundwork for his supporters to refuse to accept the results of the election should he lose, similar to the way he prepared them to reject negative reporting through his castigation of the media.
Thanks to record voter turnout, Donald Trump lost the presidency in a landslide. The reliably Republican strongholds of Georgia and Arizona flipped to Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. Donald Trump received 74 million votes to Joe Biden’s 81 million. However, a repudiation of Donald Trump at the ballot box accelerated the GOP’s descent into fascism rather than its reversal. Donald Trump and the GOP have tried to discredit the election by claiming evidence of voter fraud, which has resulted in humiliating defeats in court where Trump and his lackeys have been unable to prove widsespread voter fraud or malfesance. In a sure-fire example of disinformation, what Trump was saying in public about the election was different than what his own lawyers were saying in court. Members of his own administration said that the 2020 election was the most secure in American history. The difference: a court of law must adhere to standards of evidence, the court of public opinion does not.
In desperation, Trump himself called two state electors in Michigan, and invited Michigan Republicans to the White House following the election, in an attempt to overturn its results. This is a move that would normally be fatal for anyone running for president, let alone the president himself. Republican officials in both chambers of Congress have vowed to object to the Electoral College results. In an attempt to overturn the will and the votes of the American people, Trump and the Republican Party have demonstrated with repulsive bravado the extent to which they are willing to adhere to fascism in order to maintain power. These blatant and bold acts of corruption and disregard for the United States constitution has demonstrated the tailspin that the Republican Party has taken towards fascism — the willingness to hold onto power, no matter the cost.
