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Is Donald Trump a Fascist?

Is it fair or unfair to call The Donald a fascist? The world's most notorious fascist was Adolph Hitler. If we compare many things that Adolph Hitler said when he was running for office to what Donald Trump is saying during his campaign, there are disturbing similarities. Does this make Donald Trump "as bad as Hitler"? No, obviously not. Hitler went far beyond just saying insane things, to actually doing insane things. But obviously, we have to consider whether candidates for office will do what they promise to do. If Trump intends to do what he says, then he is a very dangerous man and could be another Hitler, or at least similar to him in terrible ways. If Trump does not intend to do what he says, then he is lying and doesn't deserve our votes for the world's most powerful office. So in either case his words should disqualify him.

Features of Fascism

Fervent, jingoistic nationalism (at Donald Trump's campaign events, one can hear people chanting "USA! USA! USA!" in the background).
"A sense of overwhelming crisis beyond the reach of traditional solutions." (Trump's ascendancy is due largely to his Chicken Little cries that the sky is falling in every conceivable direction.)
"The superiority of the leader's instincts over abstract and universal reason." (Trump claims to "know" things by magic and to always be right about everything he "knows.")
"The belief of one group that it is the victim, justifying any action." (Ethnic Germans were the "victims" of the Jews they persecuted; white Americas are the "victims" of blacks, Hispanics and Muslims.)
The idea that security is more important than individual human rights and freedoms (Trump recently said that "security must rule" and "unthinkable" things must be done to ensure security).
Scapegoating of minorities (Jews and Gypsies in Nazi Germany; blacks, Hispanics and Muslims in present-day America).
"The need for authority by natural leaders (always male) culminating in a national chief who alone is capable of incarnating the group's destiny." (Hitler then, Trump now.)
A love of military power, displays of military power, and even glamorization of war itself for the sake of national "honor" and "glory" (have you been to an American football stadium recently?).
A militaristic and highly aggressive foreign policy (the US has been at war almost constantly for more than 100 years).
Rampant chauvinism: the alpha male heterosexual is glorified, while feminism and homosexuality are denigrated and suppressed (the GOP is fiercely anti-feminist and anti-gay).
The mass media is either controlled by the government or sympathizes with it (why are there no acts of Christian terrorism, only acts of Islamic terrorism?).
A "sophisticated apparatus for systematically propagandizing the population" into accepting fascist values and ideas (Fox News, or, more correctly, Faux News). 
Fear is used to motivate and control the public (the GOP's main political strategy for eight years has been to frighten Americans into believing that Barack Obama is a socialist, not American, not Christian, etc.).
The most common religion is favored by the government and used to manipulate public opinion (all the Republican presidential candidates pander to Christians on abortion, homosexuality, Israel, etc.).
Corporate power is protected, because corporate donations help politicians get elected (Super-PACs are dominating American politics).
Labor unions are either eliminated or suppressed (Republican presidential candidates have bragged about bullying unions, even teachers' unions).
Disdain for intellectuals and the arts (American conservatives frequently oppose government aid for the arts).
Obsession with crime and punishment (Trump recently insisted that the US military should hunt down the wives and children of dead terrorists and "take them out" or make them "suffer" for purposes of "retribution").
A demand for everyone to conform to the same narrow image (white Christians are good; everyone else is suspect and dangerous).
Intolerance for diversity (Christianity is good; different beliefs and cultures are suspect and dangerous).
Social and economic Darwinism: the idea that the rich and powerful have the "right" to take advantage of the poor and weak; in other words, the law of the jungle (conservatives have equated Obamacare with slavery and communism). 
Rampant cronyism and corruption (the war with Iraq is a recent American example).
Fascists often seek to rig elections (recently in the US, there have been many attempts by Republicans to keep minorities from voting).
Robert Paxton mentioned fascism's "obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation or victimhood" and "compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity" (Trump speaks constantly of decline and energy).
Kevin Passmore defined fascism as a movement of the extreme, radical right (Trump, Cruz, Carson, Romney, Ryan, Santorum, George W. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Palin, Bachmann, McCain ... need I say more?)

Does any of this sound familiar? Are these not the organizing principles of the Republican party and its presidential candidates, especially Donald Trump? The Republican party has swung so far to the extreme, radical right that Ronald Reagan's family has pointed out that he couldn't run as a Republican today and win an election.

Related pages: The Best Donald Trump Jokes, The Best Donald Trump Puns, The Best Donald Trump Limericks, The Best Donald Trump Insults, 2016 Republican First Presidential Debate, Is there a Republican War on Women?, The Donald Trump Bible, The Best Ted Cruz Jokes, Conservatives Who Support Gay Marriage, Donald Trump Nicknames, Ten Reasons to "Fire" Donald Trump, Donald Trump's "Muslim Friends", Where Have All the Birthers Gone?, The Best Ted Cruz Jokes, Ted Cruz Nicknames, Is Ted Cruz an Anchor Baby?, More Donald Trump Jokes, Is Donald Trump a Fascist?, Donald Trump Trivia, Donald Trump: 666 Mark of the Beast

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