Worldcrunch: Is Trump A Fascist? German Historians Provide A Closer Look

[Dennis Donovan]

Worldcrunch - Is Trump A Fascist? German Historians Provide A Closer Look

Opponents and former supporters are issuing urgent warnings about Donald Trump, saying he is a fascist. But is he really a new Mussolini or Hitler? What should we be looking for in the months to come? Christian Staas of Germany's Die Zeit asks historians on both sides of the Atlantic.



Christian Staas
November 28, 2024

BERLIN — Making a contemporary comparison to fascism, American historian Robert O. Paxton wrote in 2016, usually generates more heat than light — more outrage than insight, more uproar than understanding. Indeed, the rhetoric surrounding a would-be "fascist" Donald Trump during the U.S. presidential election campaign sparked unprecedented heat. It didn't help.

Now that Trump has, as he claims, led “the biggest movement in U.S. history” to the finish line and is putting together a cabinet of hardliners, conspiracy ideologues and loyal followers, the question is how much light the historical analogy sheds on the present and the near future.

Will a fascist elected to office by a clear majority move into the White House in January?

If one understands fascism as an ultranationalist, racist ideology that seeks to violently suppress opposition, glorifies social Darwinism, demands unconditional loyalty from a party and masses to a charismatic leader, then Trump seems to fit the definition of a fascist perfectly.

The problem is: There are many books on fascism. Few political terms are as catchy yet simultaneously as vague as this one. So who better to shed light on this matter than historians from both sides of the Atlantic?

/snip

[LearnedHand]

1. Very interesting and sober take on the orange worm

Everything feels so fragile and dangerous it's easy for our dialogue to slip into extremes. This article points out how "fascist" is not a completely accurate descriptor while maintaining focus on how dangerous TSF is anyway.

Note: Interesting publication. I've never heard of it. Bookmarking!

[Igel]

3. Agreed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldcrunch

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Well, he certainly uses fascist rhetoric and methods. But does it matter if he's a *sincere* fascist ?

I would contend that it matters very little to the victims of his policies. Tsf is still exploiting a racist-driven, xenophobic mob to support his drive for power. That may mean his path tracks very close to those of acknowledged fascists, but whether this is due to an embrace of their ideology in all its aspects, or he's just using whatever works for him (spoiler: it's probably exactly that) would seem to be, ultimately, a quibble for scholars to debate, but not one that has much immediate or practical relevance.