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Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world
(noun) A political ideology – he was presumed dead – that seems to be being updated all over the world
The 2024 US election was unusual in that it featured a lively debate about whether one of the candidates was a fascist. General John Kelly, who was Trump's chief of staff during his first term, fueled the debate by telling reporters that his former boss matched the dictionary definition of fascism he had found online: “a right-wing, authoritarian political ideology.” . . characterized by a dictatorial leader, totalitarian rule, military rule, suppression of opposition by force, belief in the natural order of nature.”
The Trump campaign responded to the allegation by saying that Kelly had “decided” and repeated the false accusations. Some of Trump's most conservative defenders argue that the charge is wrong because Trump is not a military man. Indeed, the incoming president campaigned as a peace candidate and promised to end wars forever.
Harris' campaign, however, seized on Kelly's accusation. Democrats clearly believed that the American people would surely reject any candidate tainted by fascism. But they may have greatly underestimated the depth of historical knowledge of the average voter. Reporters on the campaign trail found that most voters associate fascism with Hitler—and Hitler with the Holocaust. Since no one believed that Trump was planning to build an American Auschwitz, it was easy for the Republican party to dismiss the accusations of fascism as libertarianism.
Historians of the 1930s, however, believe that Trump and other world leaders – such as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping – are reviving aspects of the fascist culture. Ultra-nationalism, the religion of the leader and contempt for liberal values are back in fashion around the world – not just in America.