Which of these criteria for fascism does Trump meet?

[John Dule]

Here we have a list of traits typically attributed to fascism. Which of these traits apply to Donald Trump? Which of them do not? Please vote in the poll and feel free to expand upon your views in the comments. I will add criteria if anyone suggests some that I've forgotten.

When assessing this, don't feel confined to discussing solely the policies Trump has enacted. This thread is about assessing Donald's personality. No one can properly call America today a fascist state; however, it is increasingly obvious that this is due solely to our democratic institutions, courts, laws, and norms. If Trump had his way I have no doubt that he would be a dictator; this is plainly obvious given virtually everything he has ever done or said.

My list:

Extreme Nationalism: Obviously yes; anyone who disputes this is an idiot.
Opposition to Liberal Democracy: Trump's clear disdain for democracy becomes more obvious every day. Interestingly, he shares another trait with fascists, in that he desires the legitimacy that a democratic mandate would afford him but lacks any interest in pursuing that mandate through honest means.
Opposition to Leftist Economics: Quite clearly yes (not a bad thing though).
Martial Law: Trump met this criteria a few days ago when he gathered Powell, Flynn, and Giuliani to seriously discuss turning America into a police state.
Militarization of Civil Society: Not really. Some commies might say that the police in this country are "militarized," but Trump hasn't, for example, militarized youth organizations (or expressed any interest in doing so).
Authority Centralized in Central Charismatic Figure: Yes, obviously.
Use or Encouragement of Violence for Political Means: Trump has spent the past four years encouraging and condoning right-wing violence, calling for the assassination of his political opponents and saying that he would pay the court fees for supporters who brutalized reporters.
Ethnocentrism (Denigration of Other Races; Exultation of "Master Race"): Trump is a transparently racist person.
One-Party Rule: Not really. Trump has no loyalty to the Republican Party and doesn't seem to care about what happens to it once he's gone.
Protectionism and Economic Self-Sufficiency: Yes, obviously.
Subservience of Private Enterprise to State Goals: I can see the argument for this, but the policies Trump has advocated aren't nearly as far-reaching as those under a Fascist regime in this regard.
Opposition to Free Press: Yes. Trump has expressed a desire to jail reporters and shut down media companies for criticizing him (or simply repeating the things he has said).
Suppression of Political Opposition through Use of Force/Military: Trump has not done this on a large scale, but his rhetoric makes it very clear that this is precisely what he would choose to do if he were able.
Shameless Political Opportunism: Something we often forget about the Nazis is how readily they stabbed their former allies in the back whenever it became politically expedient to do so. Trump exhibits this exact same type of psychopathic behavior.
Total War: No evidence to support this. I can only conclude that the generals have restrained him.
Disregard for Human Rights: Trump's dismissive comments regarding China's concentration camps, his abandonment of the Kurds, and his general disdain for free speech add up to a big fat yes in this column.
Use of Paranoia to Manipulate Supporters: Undeniable except by the most delusional cultists.
Fetishization of Crime/Punishment: See above.
Corruption: Another thing we often forget about Fascist governments. Trump's pardons of his political allies alone are enough to satisfy this criteria.
Use of Religious Rhetoric for Political Purposes: We are talking about a person who used tear gas to stage a photo op where he held up a Bible in front of a church.
Demonization of Intellectuals: Yes, though to be fair this began long before Trump, and practically predates the founding of this country.
Suppression of Organized Labor: Somewhat, but not really any more or less than other Republican presidents.

[PSOL]

He has done or attempted to do all of these

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

With regards to the Disregard for Human Rights one, not sure how he’s been worse than other recent presidents.

[Antonio the Sixth]

All but 5, 9, 11 (if anything, it's the other way around), 15, and 22 (but only because organized labor is already dead in the US)

[thumb21]

I'm a little bit surprised that the suppression of organised labour option hasn't got more votes, although I get that its not something that has received a lot of coverage. Trump has filled the courts and the NLRB with union busters.

[Alcibiades]

I agree with John Dule on all of them, except I would also add one-party rule, as even if it is not loyalty to the GOP per se, Trump clearly despises pluralistic democracy, and his recent post-election antics show that he would ideally like the outcomes of all elections pre-determined and rigged in his and his allies’ favour.

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

I'm a little bit surprised that the suppression of organised labour option hasn't got more votes, although I get that its not something that has received a lot of coverage. Trump has filled the courts and the NLRB with union busters.

This

The response seems to be ‘well he’s not worse than other Republicans’. Perhaps consider that the GOP has been a budding fascist movement well before he took over?

[John Dule]

After the events of this week, "Suppression of political opposition through the use of force" should seriously receive more votes.

[John Dule]

Who is the laserbrain who voted NOTA? Show yourself, coward.

[Chips]

He's far from the worst in this regard but the majority fits the criteria.

[Former President tack50]

All except:

5) Like you say, Trump hasn't started paramilitary organizations or anything
Trump is certainly personally racist; and some of his supporters are genuine white nationalists. I just don't think Trump himself is a white nationalist or anything like that
9) Like you say, Trump has no loyalty to the Republican party
11) No, if anything it is the opposite. For Trump private companies come first, the USA come second. Except big tech, big tech can go away.
15) In defence of Trump, not only does this not apply; he has been the most peaceful US president in almost 100 years

[John Dule]

He's far from the worst in this regard but the majority fits the criteria.

He's far from the worst when compared to all of history. When compared to US presidents, however, he is undeniably the biggest, fattest fascist of them all using these criteria.

[Bootes Void]

Do you need to get 17 or 18 out of 22 to be considered a fascist?

[John Dule]

Do you need to get 17 or 18 out of 22 to be considered a fascist?

By averaging out the percentages thus far, Atlas thinks that Trump is 71.7% fascist.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Do you need to get 17 or 18 out of 22 to be considered a fascist?

By averaging out the percentages thus far, Atlas thinks that Trump is 71.7% fascist.

This is quite interesting. I think it warrants a comparison with other politicians, but I imagine that it would require more effort and time than most posters are willing to give to the quest of finding out whether e.g. Obama is 1% or 10% fascist or whether e.g. Orbán is more or less fascist than Trump.

[John Dule]

Do you need to get 17 or 18 out of 22 to be considered a fascist?

By averaging out the percentages thus far, Atlas thinks that Trump is 71.7% fascist.

This is quite interesting. I think it warrants a comparison with other politicians, but I imagine that it would require more effort and time than most posters are willing to give to the quest of finding out whether e.g. Obama is 1% or 10% fascist or whether e.g. Orbán is more or less fascist than Trump.

We could remake this thread (with these exact options) for Reagan, Obama, FDR, Wilson, etc to construct a scale of fascist-ness.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Do you need to get 17 or 18 out of 22 to be considered a fascist?

By averaging out the percentages thus far, Atlas thinks that Trump is 71.7% fascist.

This is quite interesting. I think it warrants a comparison with other politicians, but I imagine that it would require more effort and time than most posters are willing to give to the quest of finding out whether e.g. Obama is 1% or 10% fascist or whether e.g. Orbán is more or less fascist than Trump.

We could remake this thread (with these exact options) for Reagan, Obama, FDR, Wilson, etc to construct a scale of fascist-ness.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking.

[Person Man]

Everything but Total War. He was ultimately a pussy when dealing with other countries.

[Leroy McPherson fan]

None. And none of those have anything to do with fascism either.

If fascism ever comes to America it will come in the name of liberalism. REAGAN WAS RIGHT!

[FT-02 Senator A.F.E. 🇵🇸🤝🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦]

None. And none of those have anything to do with fascism either.

If fascism ever comes to America it will come in the name of liberalism. REAGAN WAS RIGHT!

This is why we need to replace every single lead pipe across the nation.

[Damocles]

Yes.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

Extreme Nationalism: Yes (Make America Great Again, f**k NAFTA, etc)
Opposition to Liberal Democracy: Yes (Unless I win it's rigged, January 6)
Opposition to Leftist Economics: Yes (Obamacare, Tax cuts), although I agree with John Dule that's not a bad thing.
Martial Law: Yes (Expansion of ICE raids, literally every other word out of his mouth at a rally)
Militarization of Civil Society: No. Unless you count Meal Team Six or the Proud Boys, who already existed and aren't really a big chunk of society.
Authority Centralized in Central Charismatic Figure: Yes, there's no 'Trump Advisory Council', there's just Trump.
Use or Encouragement of Violence for Political Means: Yes (January 6, 'good people on both sides)
Ethnocentrism (Denigration of Other Races; Exultation of "Master Race"): Yes. He is extremely racist as has been document for the last fifty years.
One-Party Rule: No. He wants to be a dictator though.
Protectionism and Economic Self-Sufficiency: Yes, although he has a weird idea of economic self sufficiency (Hey West Virginians! It's time to make ourselves economically self sufficient by implementing more stupid fiscal policies so the 'godless coastal liberals' will have to pay more').
Subservience of Private Enterprise to State Goals: I can see the argument for this, but the policies Trump has advocated aren't nearly as far-reaching as those under a Fascist regime in this regard.
Opposition to Free Press: Yes. Don't be rude, CNN lol fake news, etc
Suppression of Political Opposition through Use of Force/Military: Yes, especially with the bible photo op.
Shameless Political Opportunism: Yes considering he supported abortion until he ran for president, endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary, and supported universal health care.
Total War: No.
Disregard for Human Rights: Yes. Not only here with ICE but abroad (e.g. Kurds).
Use of Paranoia to Manipulate Supporters: Trump is promoting the vaccine because he knows us MAGA patriots won't and he wants to save everyone from the baby-killing George Soros pizza-media empire.
Fetishization of Crime/Punishment: Not really.
Corruption: Yes. Need I go into detail?
Use of Religious Rhetoric for Political Purposes: Yes.
Demonization of Intellectuals: Yes, since he's a dumbass and most of his supporters (die-hard Trumpists) are as well.
Suppression of Organized Labor: No, if only because that's not really something that can be suppressed any further.

[John Dule]

None. And none of those have anything to do with fascism either.

So you agree that Trump supports leftist economics?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

None. And none of those have anything to do with fascism either.

If fascism ever comes to America it will come in the name of liberalism. REAGAN WAS RIGHT!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Schiff for Senate]

With regards to the Disregard for Human Rights one, not sure how he’s been worse than other recent presidents.

This is true. Trump is no saint but neither are most presidents, honestly. He hasn't done anything particularly bad that other recent presidents haven't done. This might apply to George W Bush but for Trump, no. It was under Bill Clinton that a hospital serving half of Nigeria's population was bombed (I read that in A People's History of the United States). Being president means disregarding human rights. Trump hasn't disregarded human rights that much more than other presidents.