Do you know the characteristics of fascism? You better, because Donald Trump is now trying to change the meaning of the word fascism for his base of supporters. And it’s working because now you have Republicans labeling Joe Biden as a fascist.
You now have Republicans claiming there are Democrats in this country who are fascists. How ironic because Donald Trump himself is the closest we’ve come to having a fascist leader in this country in the last hundred years.
And if he’s reelected, you’d better be prepared to take responsibility for not standing up to it. Because to Donald Trump’s supporters, it doesn’t matter if they’re communists or Marxists or fascists.
To those fellow Americans, most probably couldn’t tell the difference between any of those three. But it doesn’t matter because, to Donald Trump, they are all enemies.
And that’s precisely what fascists do. They declare enemies, among many other characteristics. Do you know the characteristics?
Does this sound familiar?
- Fascism always involves a charismatic leader who’s an autocrat, a dictator, or an authoritarian.
- Fascists always believe in extreme nationalism and that their country is better than all the others. Does it sound familiar?
- Fascists declare the media as an enemy. Does that sound familiar?
- They have a disdain for human and civil rights.
- They have a disdain for democracy. We know Donald Trump has already tried to overturn the results of our presidential election, and he doesn’t care about democracy unless he wins.
- Do you know that fascists try to marry government and religion?
There are many other characteristics, and sadly and disturbingly, Donald Trump fits the bill for all of them.
We need to educate ourselves about what fascism is and isn’t so that we can be in a position to educate fellow Americans about what it is. We already know the threat. We’re living through it every day.
Always defend our democracy.