The American people need to see that President Donald Trump is using the same playbook used by fascist leaders such as Francisco Franco, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Fascism is a political movement that seeks to uproot a country in all aspects to get back to a mythological time of greatness. Overturning a culture, people, way of life, religion and government. It usually needs a strong central figure that makes promises of greatness. Fascism also coincides with the belief that a certain race is better or a certain race is worse. In this article Trump is put through the test to compare him to fascist leaders of the past.
Trump’s actions involving Greenland compared to the Anschluss of Austria in 1938. To explain, the Anschluss, known as Anschluß Österreichs in German, was the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany on March 12th, 1938. Hitler would justify this by claiming that Austria had descended into chaos and that it was necessary to unite all German speaking people under one nation. Hitler would also state that there were riots in Vienna started by communists, and the Austrian Chancellor had called for German troops to suppress the riots. Compare this to Donald Trump and his claims and ambitions in this year alone. Trump says that it is necessary to have Greenland for security purposes, that the United States could do a better job protecting the island than Denmark. Trump may not hold the same racial ideas as Hitler, but he does hold the same lying aspect. When Trump lies stating taking Greenland is for security and not for economic gain he pulls the same card as when Hitler claimed there were communist riots in Austria.
Now let’s focus on a coup d’état. A coup d’état or a coup for short, is a sudden, violent seizure of power from the government. Fascism can come in two ways. One is often using violent coups or civil wars to get around democratic governments, and the other is elections. Mussolini marched on Rome with his Blackshirts and demanded power in 1922, Franco attempted to overthrow the Spanish Government in 1936, and Hitler did the same with his failed Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. Now compare those to Trump on Jan 6. Trump urged his supporters to stop the certification of the 2020 election in which he lost. This was an attempt to cling to power and remain as president. Trump attempted to overturn an election because he couldn’t accept the fact he lost.
Time for a look at the rhetoric of these men. All these men know that a divided country is prime for the taking. Look how Trump looks at his opponents. He calls them the radical left, communists, socialist, illegal aliens, etc. He divides and conquers. Yet many of his opponents are not communist or socialist; They are Americans with different viewpoints. Trump used the same play as many fascist leaders to divide the population and then pander to the largest or most vocal part. That part then became the most outspoken group. Much like Mussolini’s Blackshirts or Hitler’s brownshirts. This group provides an echo chamber that amplifies the central figure’s words and actions. Trump knows that he doesn’t need support from everywhere, just enough to keep up the facade of a united front or group.
The current administration has begun to slowly push what is accepted as American democracy. They push who is an American, they push on personal freedoms and they push on the foundational documents of this nation. Sinclair Lewis wrote “when fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross”. Not because fascism supports these but because America does.