Is Donald Trump a fascist?

by Rob Howard
Political Columnist

Only Donald Trump would not be bothered by being compared to Adolph Hitler. Yet that’s what some politicians, among them former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, did in December after he proposed banning travel to the United States by all Muslims.

Mostly though, rather than Hitler, commentators instead said his rhetoric reeked of fascism. Sure, there are parallels, if you don’t follow them to their historic conclusion. Hitler used racism to rise to power, and Trump, despite his complaints to the contrary, is certainly appealing to racist sentiment, both against immigrants, and against Muslims.

Trump proposes mass deportations, but he wants to send undocumented immigrants back to their home country. Hitler deported millions, but it was to Poland to be killed. That’s a substantial difference. Hitler thought Jews should wear special ID’s. This included wearing the Star of David on their clothes, and having their identification papers stamped with a “J” for Jude, German for Jew. Trump wants to keep a database of Muslims, in his benighted mind the better to watch them, I guess.

Experts on fascism don’t agree that Trump is a fascist. The main reason for this is because classic fascism believes in the use of violence to overthrow and replace the existing government. Both Hitler and Mussolini used party militias to help in their task to overthrow their governments.

I don’t think that Trump wants to do that. But he does want to trample on the rights of Americans. He says that he wants to make America great again. But he misses the point that our openness to accepting refugees and immigrants, our commitment to democratic government, and the rights enshrined in our Constitution are what makes America great.

CNN considered the question of whether Trump is a fascist or not, in a piece in mid-December. They cited historian Robert Paxton, who studied the fascist movements of 20th Century Europe. According to the network, those movements had commonalities, and played on: “A sense of overwhelming crisis beyond the reach of traditional solutions; The superiority of the leader’s instinct over abstract and universal reason; The belief of one group that it is the victim, justifying any action; and The need for authority by natural leaders.”

Using that set of characteristics, you might conclude that Trump is indeed a fascist, but CNN says one thing is missing: “In Paxton's checklist of the foundational traits of fascism there is a big one that Trump does not share, which is ‘the beauty of violence and the efficacy of will when they are devoted to the group's success.’"

CNN concluded, “that Trump is a proto-fascist, rather than an actual fascist. In other words, he has many ideas that are fascistic in nature, but he is not proposing violence as a way of implementing those ideas.”

Yet. But consider where his statements have gone since the beginning of his campaign. He started by condemning immigrants as drug addicts. Then moved to we have to deport 11 million people. He insulted women with his attack on Fox host Megyn Kelly. Stepped up his anti-Muslim rhetoric after the Paris terror attacks. Then moved to wanting to ban all Muslims, immigrants and tourists alike, from coming to the US, “temporarily.”

I’m writing this in mid-December. Who knows what comes next in his panoply of condemning groups of Americans. African-Americans? The poor? LGBT people?

As for violence, does he seriously think that we could round up 11 million people and deport them, and not resort at some point to violence? Or that eight million Muslims who are citizens will take restrictions on their lives peacefully? Or that his followers, most of whom are probably gun-owning people, will continue to cheer his rhetoric, without resorting to violence? I can’t see the future, but I don’t like the path he is heading down.

So, no, Trump isn’t a fascist. Yet. But stay tuned.

The Gayly - 1/13/2016 @ 1:11 p.m. CST