Is Donald Trump a Fascist? Comparing Authoritarian Traits and Fascist Traits
youtube.com
This isn’t terribly long — maybe 6.5 minutes. It compares and contrasts traits of fascists and authoritarians to see where Donald Trump fits best. I’m curious to know if you agree with Reich’s conclusions.
I generally like Reich and I certainly agree with his conclusion here, but tbh I feel like this video is not great work. Some of the warning signs he calls out are generally accepted as markers of fascism, but to my mind it would have been better if he had hewed closer to the generally accepted tenets of Ur-Fascism, as outlined by Umberto Eco. It might have made for a longer video, but by fitting Trump to a framework established long before his rise, it avoids some of the just-so nature of the claims Reich lodges against him. Just my $.02.
Maybe it’s just that I’m not as familiar with history as I need to be, but Reich’s points seemed to be a pretty good subset of Ecos. Where is he deviating?
This has been known since 2017. It’s the ultranationalism and xenophobia that did it for me. When your followers call themselves “patriots,” you’re a fascist.
He's a Fatscist.