My Blog
Politics

Is Trump Fascist or Semi-Fascist?


Jonathan Chait: “On the narrow point of terminology, I largely agree that fascist should not be used to describe figures like Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. Historians and political theorists have innumerable definitions of fascism — some narrow, others extremely broad. But most people understand fascism to mean a single-party state in which effective political opposition is impossible — or at least extremely dangerous. Neither Trump nor DeSantis is trying to build a system like this.”

“What I do believe is that it’s accurate to describe Trump and DeSantis as engaging in and advocating authoritarian measures that weaken democracy without eliminating it altogether as a fascist would. A more limited and precise term might be democratic backsliding — a term I favor (despite its unsuitability in headlines), because it correctly conceives of democracy and dictatorship as existing on a continuum rather than in a binary. I think Joe Biden’s term, ‘semi-fascist,’ captures this well enough.”

FavoriteLoadingSave to Favorites

Related posts

Mike Gibbons Calls Josh Mandel Unhinged After He Attempted To Combat Him At Ohio Debate

newsconquest

Iowa Has Gone Nuts

newsconquest

Putin’s ruthless power play may not preclude a revival of Ukraine grain deal

newsconquest

Leave a Comment