Trump isn't the fascist here.

[paulkienitz]

Last edited Sat Jun 21, 2025, 11:14 PM - Edit history (1)

There are lots of fascists in the Trump administration: proudly obvious cases like Noem and Miller, quieter ones like Hegseth, and probably stealth ones — maybe Vance, we can't tell because he isn't really showing his cards yet. And there are tons of obvious fascists in Congress, like MTG and Mike Lee. And there are tons of fascist Trump backers of the Musk and Thiel stripe. But Trump himself isn't the fascist. To be a fascist would require him to plan and believe in some sort of fascist system, and the only thing he plans or believes in is just "People should all treat Trump better." He's not a fascist, he's just a narcissist. He gives no shits whatever about what happens to the rest of the party, or even the country as a whole, without him. If he has a political philosophy, it's monarchist: he thinks he should be our king.

But the Republican Party as a whole is galloping toward fascism. They didn't get their fascism from Trump — they took advantage of Trump to seize the chance to implement fascism. They jumped at the chance because, without really quite letting themselves know it, it was exactly what they had been waiting for all along. It was what Dubya's crew wanted, it was what the Newt Gingrich congress wanted, it was what a lot of Reagan backers wanted, it was what Nixon's people wanted.... all the way back to Hoover, maybe even Harding, the Republican Party has been groping in this exact direction, and now they've finally seen a clear path to get there. They are often monumentally embarrassed by Trump's messy and chaotic leadership, yet most of them can't turn it down, because it's giving them exactly what they've been wanting all along. And it's what their voting base has been wanting too: for decades, all of the candidates that have brought out real enthusiasm in elections have been the ones most similar to Trump.

Trump isn't the fascist. The fascists are the rest of the Republican Party.

[S/V Loner]

1. LOL. I have said for a long time that Trump wasn't...

A racist. Trump only see’s one color and that is green. Everyone is either someone to use for his own benefit or discarded/destroyed. Racism is just another tool in his bag but to actually be a racist you need a different race to idolize. He idolizes only one person. Himself.

[brush]

2. Fascist v dictator? Ok, the terms mignt not be interchangeable...

but trump is definitely a wannabe dictator, and is not shy about it.

And the same goes for all the little mini-dictators in his cabal.

[paulkienitz]

5. I would describe Trump's philosophy as monarchist.

Fascism requires a party organization for continuity. Trump only wants to personally rule, not establish any institution.

[Kaleva]

3. Trump is a master con man who's in it for himself

He’ll be whatever makes him the most money.

[indusurb]

4. Yes he is,

Classic, mixing business interests with politics. I suggest that you go read Mussolini's Minister of Justice Alfredo Rocco's treatise The Political Doctrine of Fascism, an excellent work for defining fascism.

Yes, he's a narcissist as well, but that's pretty common among fascists.

[paulkienitz]

6. Trump doesn't do doctrines.

[indusurb]

8. Whether he does them conciously or unconciouxly,

He is still following the classic fascist playbook, entwining government and business under a single leader. Like I said, go read Rocco's treatise, he is probably the definitive classic source for what is and isn't fascism

[B.See]

32. @ indusurb: EXACTLY. Everything

does, says, and thinks screams fascist. And a bigoted racist to boot. Evident even before he slithered into the O Office.

That so many still don't believe he is, is why he manages to escape accountability for all of the damage he's done.

[hlthe2b]

7. "Maybe Vance?" Really? I'd peg that a DEFINITE

He is certainly an opportunist, but it is clear he's crossed the Rubicon on Fascism.

[YodaMom2]

22. Agreed

He’s Thiel’s protege, and Thiel is fascist.

[B.See]

33. What amazes me is how people like Vance, Musk etc.

are acknowledged as being fascist, yet the guy who picks and empowers them to do what they do ISN'T? Whaa?

Or maybe his "genius" is in instigating, initiating, and bringing about a lot of chaos, hate based sentiment, and despicable, malevolent minded policymaking

while still coming away with having people conclude he's too dumb to know what the fk he's doing.

Go figure.

[KT2000]

9. GOP....Fascists and Cowards

Was my sign on Saturday. There was only one other sign mentioning the GOP out of 2640 people. They could stop this madness in 5 minutes so it is evident they believe in it.
We have to tie these actions to the the republicans so they lose their elections.
We also need to start talking about familial laws in 30 states that require children of indigent parents to support them. That is what happens when Medicare and Social Security throw people off.

[Karasu]

10. Correct. He's just a fucking opportunist and always has been.

The GOP are true believers and completely divorced from reality.

[AntiFascist]

11. Reagan's people were the so called "moral majority"...

they tend to be silent and not always that visible, except in the case of Speaker Johnson. I believe these are the same class of people behind Project 2025 which has been in the works for decades. Evangelical groups tend to have a lot of financial resources, and they were able to fund the "secret" CIA war in Afghanistan. The extremists of the group want to end American democracy altogether and replace it with a form of Christian Nationalism.

[Karasu]

16. The Heritage Foundation was behind P25, so yes...the "same class of people" is correct.

It's also worth noting that P25 was agreed to by the GOP in general, it wasn't specifically a "Trump thing." He just so happened to be the one to get the nomination. Though once the courts decided to throw out the 14th Amendment like an useless piece of trash, that was a foregone conclusion.

[DENVERPOPS]

12. The true fascists

Are the Corporations and the Republican Senators.........The two of them installed Trump in office, and the Republican Senate kept him in office.
Period.

[littlemissmartypants]

13. Who cares what the label is ultimately...

It's his behavior that matters the most.

Characteristics of Psychopaths

1. Aggressive, callous, and cunning
2. Complete absence of conscience and empathy
3. Very adept at manipulating others
4. Willingness to engage in immoral, criminal conduct
5. Willingness to take what they want and do as they please, regardless of who is hurt or wronged
6. Deceptive ability to appear outwardly benevolent
7. Deceptive ability to behave in superficially charming ways to hide purely selfish motives
8. Willingness to use intimidation and violence to control others in order to satisfy their own needs
9. Willingness to intentionally violate the basic inherent human rights of others
10. Complete absence of any sense of guilt or remorse for the harm their actions have caused to others
11. Rationalization of their own immoral behavior
12. Will attempt to lay blame upon someone else for their own conduct
13. Denial, will deny their own wrongdoing outright
14. Utter contemptuousness toward the feelings and desires of their fellow beings
15. Pathological lying, will say anything without any concern for truth to advance their own hidden agendas
16. Ablity to feign [fake] normal human emotions and empathy
17. Distorted sense of the consequences of their actions
18. Total failure to accept any responsibility for their own socially irresponsible ways
19. Strong bellef that they will never be brought to justice for their criminal behavior

[Bluethroughu]

14. Vance had made it clear he's a fascist on regular occasion.

[appmanga]

15. Let's stop playing games and being cute...

...what you tolerate is what you are. That goes for Trump and all those other people out there who voted for him.

[B.See]

30. Precisely.

[Joinfortmill]

17. I agree to a certain extent...

But we also had Eisenhower, who expanded the New Deal and certainly wasn't a fascist.


'As President, Eisenhower thought that government should provide some additional benefits to the American people. He signed legislation that expanded Social Security, increased the minimum wage, and created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. He also supported government construction of low-income housing but favored more limited
spending than had Truman.' millercenter.org.

[paulkienitz]

28. Ike was a true centrist and had to think about which party to run under.

[Crunchy Frog]

18. Yeah. I think he probably doesn't have sufficient intellect to be a true fascist.

Bannon is definitely one.

[BlueTsunami2018]

19. Yes, he's just the frontman. He has the cult.

None of these others would ever get anywhere without him and his command of the loony toon followers.

Piss has no values at all. No philosophy beyond “me, me, me”. He has dictatorial ambitions but he really doesn’t know what that means beyond everyone worshipping him.

He’s like a strange combination of authoritarian anarchist. Or something like that. You can’t pin a political philosophy on someone who doesn’t have one, who doesn’t even know what one is.

[barbtries]

20. i disagree.

he's all that and a fascist dictator, strong man, psychopath.

[B.See]

34. Teflon Don

smh.

[mdbl]

21. The only thing these assholes have learned is that hate can garner support

As long as they have groups for everyone to hate, they will gladly support them even at their own peril. This has been going on since the first day Mush Limpballs came on the airwaves.

[MuirHero]

23. General Mark Milley confirmed that Trump is a fascist.

General Mark Milley, 4 star general and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Biden Administration stated publicly last October that indeed Trump is a fascist. The Republican Party has also gone full blown fascist and this has been many years in the making. Trump is the fascist leader that they have been yearning for.

[BaronChocula]

24. Agree 99 percent

I feel like I've been screaming into the void discussing how the republican party has long been the political arm of the white nationalist movement. They've largely wanted a republic where they and everyone in their demographic orthodoxy (Christianist, heterist) determine who has what rights. They are in alliance with greedy shareholders of large corporations who want bigger dividends by any means necessary, regardless of how it hurts middle class consumers and workers. The republican party has been bushwhacking the path to fascism for years.

But yes, trump is also a total fascist to his core. As bad as previous administrations have been, we've never seen, in most of our lifetimes all of what's happening now.

[choie]

25. Trump is a fascist

and the repubican party is fascist. Both can be true.

[paulkienitz]

29. What Trump wants to be is a king.

[Mountainguy]

26. They all are

The only question is which are true believers and which are ass kissers.

[SocialDemocrat61]

27. Trump is the symptom

not the cause.

[valleyrogue]

31. Vance is Peter Thiel's B-word

Peter Thiel is diametrically opposed to democracy. That means he is a fascist and therefore Vance is a fascist.