Trump’s Fascistic Fantasy Falls Further Into Focus
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A consistent theme throughout the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris has been a criticism of Donald Trump’s dictatorial glorification. The former President regularly compliments the “genius” of Putin, the “iron fist” of President Xi, and continues to highlight his good relationship with Kim Jong Un. The Democrats now have yet another fascistic flaunt to add to this unflattering collection: “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.”
As reported in The New York Times, Trump’s own former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly warns that Trump intends to rule as a dictator if re-elected, saying that Trump fits “the definition of a fascist.”
Kelly’s testimony corroborates the opinion of the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, who considers the former President to be “fascist to the core.” The idea that Trump poses a danger to democracy is not only echoed by myriad other former cabinet members and staffers, but it is also the sentiment shared by Trump’s Vice President, Mike Pence.
Pence chose to run against Trump in this election’s Republican primaries, and has since refused to endorse his former running mate following their political divergence on January 6th, 2021. The day in which Trump now refers to as a “day of love,” Pence sees as a day in which his decision to uphold democratic procedure, against Trump’s wishes, risked the lives of those present in the Capitol, including his own family. Trump continues to falsely deny the result of the 2020 Presidential Election, claiming that such a “Massive Fraud” facilitated the “termination” of parts of the Constitution. In a telling moment, Pence’s replacement, JD Vance, was recently unable to answer definitively whether Trump lost the 2020 Presidential Election when pressed by Harris’ running mate, Governor Tim Walz in the Vice Presidential Debate.
Following this ever-growing stockpile of anti-democratic indicators, Kamala Harris made a statement emphasising Donald Trump’s claim that he would “be a dictator on day one” if re-elected. The Vice President linked a deluge of dictatorial quotes to Trump’s recent comments seemingly supporting the deployment of the military to take on “an enemy within.” The scope of the “enemy” Trump refers to could be exponential - he has expressed the desire to suppress news outlets, attacked judges for ruling against him, and has even considered shooting BLM protesters “in the legs.” It is sometimes hard to remember that Trump is in fact a candidate running to be ‘the leader of the free world.’
Whilst we are unsure as to what Trump truly means by “enemy from within,” what is perhaps the most clearly articulated fascistic element of a second Trump presidency is Project 2025. Produced by a conservative think tank that Donald Trump claims to have no connections to, the Heritage Foundation’s policy agenda details overhauling federal government agencies, replacing purged employees with loyalists. Project 2025 has also produced videos instructing future appointees on their role in enacting unprecedented conservative change, and preparing those individuals for a severe backlash.
Trump’s distance from Project 2025, however, is entirely disingenuous – the agenda is partly authored by Tom Homan, an individual present in the former President’s cabinet, in communication with the Republican candidate throughout this presidential campaign, and expected by Trump to “[come] on board” any future administration. Republican talking points from this election season suspiciously mirror policies featured within the 2025 playbook. Trump’s archaic and inhumane proposal of a mass deportation of immigrants, for example, reflects an accelerated expulsion process outlined by the Heritage Foundation. CBS News identified at least 270 known policy crossovers between Trump’s campaign and Project 2025, so, why does Trump feel the need to deny knowledge of the platform?
Ultimately, neither Donald Trump, or his campaign, are able to conceal the anti-democratic ambition ingrained within the former President’s political persona. At what point is this platform of anti-democracy disqualifying? Trump consistently seeks loyalty not to the United States, but to himself. With a pattern of praise for dictators, and an undeniable trail of evidence indicating both previous and potential future violations of democratic integrity, the question surrounding the US presidential election should not be who will win – the question should be how is Trump even in a position to win?