Is Trump’s America turning proto-fascist?: Ivo Vegter (Part 2)

Key topics:MAGA exhibits key proto-fascist traits in US politics todayTrump fuels leader cult, xenophobia, conspiracies, and violencePopulism, anti-science, and crony capitalism mark the movement.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Ivo Vegter*.Despite the overuse of the term fascism, and angry denials, it has become necessary to be watchful for signs of incipient fascism in US politics today.The world, and particularly the West, long believed that it had put its catastrophic dalliance with fascism of the first half of the 20th century behind it. It clearly was a system that violated all the principles of a free society and led to grave atrocities.But, as Umberto Eco reminded us 30 years ago, “Life is not that simple. Ur-Fascism [that is, the essence of fascism] can come back under the most innocent of disguises. Our duty is to uncover it and to point our finger at any of its new instances – every day, in every part of the world.”Eco wrote his 1995 essay, Ur-Fascism, because he worried that fascist impulses were still alive and liable to arise from discontent.The historian Robert Paxton wrote his 2004 book, The Anatomy of Fascism, because he feared the term fascism was overused, and therefore diluted. He wanted to establish a limited definition, which set boundaries for what fascism was and was not..Read more:.What defines fascism, and could Trump’s America fit the description?: Ivo Vegter (Part 1).The description and characterisations of fascism that I offered in part one of this double feature set the stage for today’s subject: examining the political landscape in the US, to determine whether key traits of fascism are taking root in the prototypical “land of the free”.Core mythThe description of fascism I presented should certainly not be viewed as definitive. If there’s any word in political theory which raises more controversy than “fascism”, I have yet to see it.(Except for Marxists. Marxists have had a clear definition of fascism all along. Since they could not fit an anti-capitalist, anti-bourgeois totalising vision based on radical nationalism instead of radical socialism into their binary class struggle theory, they painted fascism as an extra-legal agent of bourgeois capitalism for class repression to maintain its dictatorship over the proletariat. If that sounds like poppycock*, that’s because Marxism is poppycock, and I propose to ignore this definition entirely.)Roger Griffin, professor of modern history and political theorist at Oxford Brookes University, points out that every one of Eco’s “14 features”, which I referenced in my previous column, can be found in a variety of political movements or regimes which are not fascist.“As an emotive force, and as a source of identity and purpose,” he writes in his 2017 book Fascism: an Introduction to Comparative Fascist Studies, “the strength of fascist ideology often lies in the nebulousness and utopian quality of its vision, not in its practicality or realizability.”According to Griffin, the core myth of fascism is that “an organic ‘people’ … is in crisis and needs to be saved from its present state of disintegration and decadence through the agency of a vanguard made up of those who are keenly aware of the current forces that threaten it and are prepared to fight to combat them,” though he adds that this “fight” need not be physical or violent.Changed mindPaxton initially did not think Trump merited the label fascist. In 2017, he wrote an article for a French newspaper that was republished in Harper’s Magazine, in which he listed a long string of “alarming facts” about Trump and the broader MAGA movement.However, he concluded that Trump did not merit the label fascist: “Are we therefore looking at a fascist? Not really. Unchecked executive power indicates generic dictatorship rather than fascism in particular. And affixing the label to Trump actually confuses matters, obscuring his economic and social libertarianism. We might as well call the Trump regime by the appropriate name: plutocracy.”Paxton changed his mind after 6 January 2021. Writing in Newsweek, he now wrote: “Trump’s incitement of the invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 removes my objection to the fascist label. His open encouragement of civic violence to overturn an election crosses a red line. The label now seems not just acceptable but necessary.”It is also now clear that Trump is neither a social libertarian, nor an economic libertarian.MAGA movementThe slogan “Make America Great Again” was not invented by Trump. It dates back to Ronald Reagan, who accepted the Republican nomination for president in 1980 by saying: “For those who’ve abandoned hope, we’ll restore hope and we’ll welcome them into a great national crusade to make America great again.”The difference between then and now is that America, then, really was in trouble.Its unemployment rate was almost double what it was when Trump took office in 2025. Inflation peaked above 13.5% in 1980, compared to less than 3% in 2024. The Federal Funds Rate whipsawed wildly between 9% and 19% in 1980, compared to 4.33% in January 2025. GDP growth was negative in 1980, while by the end of 2024, the US economy had recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic faster than any other developed nation, growing at 2.5%, 2.9% and 2.8% in the three years prior to Trump’s second term.In 1980, America really did need to be made great again. In 2024, America was already great. The narrative that the Biden/Harris administration produced an “economic catastrophe”, as Trump claimed, was entirely false.ImmigrationSo was the narrative that immigration had been an “insane policy” that “[Democrats] allowed to destroy our country”. It did no such thing.Crime rates among immigrants were actually lower than they were among native-born Americans. Their use of government services was lower. Immigrants formed the backbone of the labour force in agriculture, building maintenance, and other low-skilled sectors, and were important contributors to the high-tech world of Silicon Valley. Immigrants were, and always have been, a net benefit to the United States.Arguing that immigration levels were excessive during Biden’s term of office is not unreasonable. There are sane and legal ways to reverse this, however.Instead, Trump deployed masked, unidentifiable, unaccountable and often unqualified gangs of deportation agents, exclusively to Democratic-run cities, to violently harrass people – including green card holders, visa holders and American citizens – merely for looking like immigrants, in order to detain them without legal representation prior to deportation.The Secretary for Homeland Security, Kirsti Noem, appeared before Congress to misdefine “habeas corpus” (the right to appeal one’s detention before a court) as “a Constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country.”“Enemy within”Trump created a narrative that the Democratic Party was not merely a left-wing political opponent, pursuing an ideology which might be misguided, but which is entirely normal and legitimate in a multi-party democracy..Read more:.Welcome to the crony states of America: Ivo Vegter.He cast these political opponents as inherently violent – despite most political violence having come from the right in recent years. He went so far recently as to demonise the party as having a “terrorist wing”, and his senior staffers called it a “domestic extremist organisation”.This is intended to delegitimise political opposition to the MAGA agenda.The Trump administration and the MAGA movement picked on outsider groups, starting with transsexuals, drag queens and gay people, but extending at various times to Muslims, to immigrants caricatured as rapists, gang members and mentally ill, and to minorities perceived to have benefited from affirmative action.They cast the left as a whole as enablers of crime and terrorism; as “the enemy within” against which the MAGA movement – representing the hardworking and morally upright citizens of the “real America” – had to “fight, fight, fight”.Trump gave the MAGA movement a “uniform” of sorts to wear: instead of brown or black shirts, they wore red caps to identify themselves as Trump’s people.The fascisms of the 1930s were built upon real economic hardship and real national humiliation. Trump, by contrast, created a false myth that America was being destroyed both from within and without, and was being “taken advantage of” by other countries in trade.He created the myth that America “is in crisis and needs to be saved from its present state of disintegration and decadence through the agency of a vanguard made up of those who are keenly aware of the current forces that threaten it and are prepared to fight to combat them,” to use Griffin’s words.Cult of the leaderIn fascism, a charismatic, strong leader is seen as the embodiment of the nation’s will.Trump and his proxies, like Elon Musk, have often balked at the notion that any laws, or democratic checks and balances – like courts, Congress or the media – are entitled to thwart Trump’s agenda. They are denounced as “enemies of the people”, “activist judges” or “radical left lunatics”.The premise is that Trump’s agenda is the will of the people, and therefore anything that stands in the way of Trump’s actions implicitly denies the will of the people.Trump has replaced loyalty to non-partisan democratic institutions, including the Constitution, with demands that federal employees pledge personal loyalty to him.His own administration has cast Trump as America’s super-powered hope. The MAGA movement routinely circulates memes that casts Trump – a gambler and fornicator if ever there was one – as anointed by God. His supporters claim that he is persecuted, just like Jesus was, and convicted, just like Jesus was.MAGA believes the myth that only Trump can save America from its (mythical) crisis, and that the ends justify almost any means. Criticism of Trump is treated as betrayal, and most Republican lawmakers (but not all) exhibit near-total subservience to Trump’s personal authority instead of to constitutional or moral principles.Rejection of the rule of lawThe Trump administration’s disrespect for the Constitution, the law, and the courts, along with their loyalty to Trump personally, indicate that the rule of law has been replaced by the rule of man.This overturns a central principle of liberal democratic government: that people are subject to laws, instead of the edicts or whims of the ruler, and that everyone, including government leaders, should be subject to the law.Trump routinely acts, and speaks, as if he is above the law, and that any attempt to subject him to the law is merely persecution by political opponents.PalingenesisFascist leaders promise to restore a mythical past of moral purity and economic power to a country suffering a decline or humiliation. As we’ve seen, Trump created the myth of such a decline out of whole cloth, but now promises national rebirth (known as “palingenesis” among political scientists).In reality, there never was a golden age in which the US people were better off than they are today.The evangelical and Christian Nationalist wing of the MAGA movement, supported by the conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, is key in this regard. They unite people who are disenchanted with the social liberalism that grew out of the 1960s, including the Civil Rights Act that gave black people equality, the women’s equality movement, the gay rights movement, and the growing secularisation of American society.For them, the golden age was the era in which the pious, patriarchal, heterosexual and white majority was respected as being inherently superior to any other groups in an increasingly cosmopolitan and diverse country. To “make America great again”, to them, means to promote a return to the country’s supposedly Christian founding principles, demanding laws that enact religious rules against perceived sins such as abortion and homosexuality.ViolenceUnder fascism, violence is celebrated as cleansing and redemptive; enemies are to be crushed, not debated.There is a considerable turn towards violence on the part of the Trump administration. Trump told police “don’t be too nice”. He has shielded police officers and immigration enforcement squads from accountability for brutality. He has pardoned soldiers convicted of, or charged with, war crimes.The MAGA movement also uses violent rhetoric against political opponents, including the threat to “hang Mike Pence” on 6 January, and calls for “second amendment solutions” to problems posed by the left.It doesn’t have a monopoly on violence, of course, and it isn’t yet a cult of redemptive, cleansing violence, but the idea that the “radical left” cannot be tolerated, shields “domestic terrorists”, and are “enemies within” are precursors to a more violent society.Scapegoating and conspiraciesFascists blame complex social or economic problems on identifiable enemies, such as Mexicans, Jews, Muslims, opposition protesters, environmental activists, immigrants, or globalists.The MAGA movement has demonised such groups, and has created conspiracist narratives surrounding rich and powerful people who are not politically aligned with Trump, such as George Soros, Klaus Schwab and Bill Gates.A significant part of Trump’s support base was drawn from the QAnon conspiracy movement, that believed government was controlled by a shadowy “deep state”, led by a ring of Satanic paedophiles who were mostly (but not always) members of the Democratic Party.“Globalists”, “Black Lives Matter” and “cultural Marxists” serve as contemporary stand-ins for the fascist “Judeo-Bolshevik” enemy.Rejection of scienceFascism rejects rational debate and science, and is instead based upon intuition, emotion, and propaganda. Trump calls it “common sense”.Left-leaning academic institutions whose students refuse to toe the Trump administration’s ideological line have become a focus of both MAGA’s ire and Trump’s punitive decrees.The biggest indicator of anti-science bias, however, is the appointment of a tort lawyer and noted purveyor of unscientific disinformation to the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services. Other appointees, like Mehmet Oz, reinforce the perception that American healthcare has been turned over to quacks and television personalities, rather than doctors and scientists.The Trump administration routinely attacks experts, including scientists, journalists, and judges, and paints them as being motivated by “rabid left” politics.When challenged for making provably false statements, the Trump administration has declared them to be “alternative facts”, which mirrors fascism’s rejection of objective truth.Trump has also directed the National Parks Service and individual museums to amend their representations of history, in cases where he does not believe they sufficiently glorify the country’s past. Such historical revisionism is also typical of fascist (and other dictatorial) societies.Populism and ralliesFascism is inherently a populist movement. It sweeps up the nation in emotional rallies, and unifies supporters with bold symbols and slogans. It presents itself as the only legitimate expression of patriotism.Trump has leaned into his status as a celebrity, holding rallies that resemble religious revival meetings, with flags, chants, prayers, oaths, and, of course, merchandising.While accusing much of the media of disloyalty and anti-Americanism, he has leveraged pro-Trump media like Fox News, as well as social media, to spread propaganda, super-patriotic symbolism, emotional appeals, and smears against the opposition.All of this is designed to create a sense of unity and belonging, and a sense that anyone outside the MAGA circle is a threat, and is to be defeated.Crony CapitalismFascism creates a corporate-state nexus, in which the government and business elites collaborate for mutual power, suppressing labour movements and competition, and normalising corporate funding for political projects, in return for special dispensations from government.Trump’s cabinet and advisers are dominated by billionaires and corporate lobbyists. Trump personally oversees corporate action, such as the forcible transfer of TikTok’s American operations to US investors and taking a government stake in chip-maker Intel.The administration also brushes off allegations of conflict of interest, such as when Elon Musk headed a “government efficiency” drive affecting regulators that oversee his own companies.Is Trump/MAGA fascist?Although Paxton has changed his mind, I would not yet say Trump is a fascist, but I would certainly attribute a lot of fascist characteristics to the Trump administration and the MAGA movement..Read more:.How MAGA's whataboutism defends Trump’s troubling Intel deal - Ivo Vegter.Although Paxton has changed his mind, I would not yet say Trump is a fascist, but I would certainly attribute a lot of fascist characteristics to the Trump administration and the MAGA movement.The country is ripe for a leader like Trump to turn into a true fascist, complete with a one-party state and a hostile, or even expansionist stance towards the rest of the world. (Remember Canada and Greenland.)The US today exhibits nearly every ideological and behavioural hallmark of fascism: leader worship, xenophobia, aggressive anti-opposition rhetoric, disinformation, and religious nationalism.It isn’t full-blown fascism, yet, but it is certainly proto-fascist, with many of the authoritarian-populist traits made famous by other fascist regimes throughout history. The red flags are everywhere..*Ivo Vegter is a freelance journalist, columnist and speaker who loves debunking myths and misconceptions, and addresses topics from the perspective of individual liberty and free markets..This article was first published by Daily Friend and is republished with permission

Is Trump’s America turning proto-fascist?: Ivo Vegter (Part 2)

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