The term may have been overused, but it's not an accusation to be thrown around lightly at the end of a closely contested election campaign. On Tuesday, October 22, in an interview with the New York Times, John Kellly – Donald Trump's former White House chief of staff – described the former US president's approach to power as "fascist." His extremely disturbing words perpetuated the unease caused in the democratic world by the Republican's candidacy.
The former Marine Corps general said that if fascism can be defined as "a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy," then the ex-president's vision of power fits that definition. Kelly said he is convinced that, if re-elected to a second term as president on November 5, Trump will exercise power in a "dictatorial" manner.
Vice President Kamala Harris quickly seized on the accusation of "fascism" against Trump, which she had previously been hesitant to use despite his numerous verbal and political provocations. The Republican camp, for its part, rejected this characterization as unworthy of electoral debate.
The problem is that Trump himself dragged the election debate into a mire of insults, demagoguery and lies just as the campaign took a violent turn with two assassination attempts against him. In his third presidential battle since 2016, he pushed his populist rhetoric even further than on previous occasions, rallying enthusiastic crowds whose support was never in doubt.
Trump-aligned Republican Party
This climate is all the more worrying given that the former president, who rejected the results of the 2020 presidential election and encouraged hundreds of rioters to storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021, is now refusing to commit to recognizing the results of the November 5 vote. Officials such as Kelly, who limited President Trump's excesses in the White House, have been replaced by loyalists with unwavering allegiance. The famous checks and balances of the American democratic system, the safeguards meant to guarantee the stability of its institutions, were weakened under his tenure. If Congress falls into the hands of a now predominantly Trump-aligned Republican Party, there will no longer be any legislative checks and balances.
The American historian Robert Paxton, who exposed the truth of the Vichy regime to France and devoted much of his life to the study of fascism, had avoided equating Trumpism with the object of his research when speaking to Le Monde in 2018 (article in French). At the time, he remarked that Trump "seems to have no other priorities than to bathe in his own glory. Perhaps his natural indolence will be our salvation." Six years later, however, Paxon, now more informed by experience, expressed a different view to the New York Times. He too recognizes the fascist threat posed by Trump.
These warnings have a particular resonance in Europe, the birthplace of fascism and the scene of the rise of far-right parties over the past decade. They concern Europe's main ally and guarantor of its security. In an age of proliferating autocrats, they must be taken seriously.