Let me get this straight. A man who attempted to subvert the 2020 election, and in the process incited thousands to descend upon the United States capitol causing death, destruction, and defilement of those sacred halls of democracy. He has continually used his “bully pulpit” to spread misinformation, outright lies, and disparage women, minorities, the handicapped, and others. He used the justice department to go after his critics, and even fired James Comey, the former director of the FBI who was overseeing an investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race. During the first three years of his previous presidency, Trump continually undermined the Mueller investigation who found in 10 episodes sufficient information to warrant criminal charges against Trump. At the end of his previous term, he used the pardoning power of the presidency to grant clemency to controversial former aids Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, and Steve Bannon. Before Ukraine was embroiled in an unjustifiable war, Trump attempted to pressure Volodymyr Zelenskyy into announcing a baseless investigation into the Biden family in exchange for the $400 million in military aid Ukraine was owed. Furthermore, he demanded oaths of loyalty from his staff, profited financially from his first term in office, continues to withhold his medical records, and has now been convicted of 34 felonies. This is who the American people have overwhelmingly elected to be the next president? Kamala Harris may not have been the ideal candidate, and she had a limited time to campaign, but how we ended up in this predicament is beyond me. How a man with the rap sheet that Trump has can become the president-elect is just mind boggling. 

Fascism can be defined as a far right-wing autocracy with a dictatorial ruler, an ultra nationalist political ideology, who believes in a social hierarchy, and the suppression of any opposition. This definition fits Donald Trump to a tee. However, it is a difficult sell to the American public because when you accuse someone of being a fascist, likely what they hear is a comparison to the most famous of all fascists, Adolf Hitler, and comparing anyone to Hitler is always a stretch. While Trump may not have plans to murder any Jewish Americans, he does plan on deporting many millions of illegal aliens. Individuals the American people, and the American economy, have come to rely on. His wall at the southern border was a bust so now he will resort to weaponizing ICE, border patrol, the military, and local law enforcement to root out and deport all those within our borders without legal cause to be here. 

There are other parallels one could draw between Trump and fascism. On the campaign trail this year, Trump said that criminal immigrants have “bad genes” and stated they are “poisoning the blood of our country.” His rhetoric also matches that of an authoritarian ruler of a fascist regime with him stating that he would mobilize the military and send them to democratically controlled states using the Insurrection Act of 1807 as justification. When General Mark Milley stated as much publicly, Trump suggested that Milley should be executed for treason.

There is more that could be said on the subject, but one can only take so much of writing about the man. In a recent article by Alexandra Petri for The Washington Post titled “Oh, so we have to keep doing this forever,” she likens our current predicament with that of Sisyphus, another tyrant-king that was forced to continually role a boulder up a hill for the sin of cheating death twice, and for violating the sacred hospitality tradition. Most poignantly, she asks this question, “I am not above changing the ends of stories when I tell them to my child. Goldilocks and the three bears enjoy a nice breakfast together, and she learns a lesson about breaking and entering. The boy who cried wolf is a respected shepherd in his community now. How do I tell this story?” As a father of four, I too wonder.