In a time-honored tradition that is far older than I am (36 years), we are just over two weeks out from Election Day and have fully committed to losing our minds as a country.
One of the current talking points being kicked into overdrive by people who are losing their already staticky connection to reality is the idea that a second Trump administration would mean the rise of fascism in America would be complete. It is a claim accompanied by the insane ramblings of those who feel mildly inconvenienced by the very idea of Donald Trump, and usually lacks any historical context whatsoever.
Take former AFL-CIO political director Michael Podhorzer, who wrote such a screed on Substack.
One of the most puzzling questions of the cycle is how, with less than three weeks to go to Election Day, polling shows the race in a dead heat despite Trump’s obvious unfitness for office and authoritarian intentions. Consider how unlikely you would have thought that to be the future on January 7th, 2021, or in November 2022 when responsibility for Republicans’ dashed midterm hopes was laid at Trump’s feet, or in December 2023 when it appeared Trump could face four criminal trials in 2024.
Just as puzzling, and no doubt connected, is how much less attention the media is paying to Trump’s unfitness and authoritarian intentions now than it was four years ago, despite substantially more evidence of his intentions now than there was then.
The above excerpt comes from an item he wrote titled “Sleepwalking Our Way to Fascism.” More:
This is the case even though Americans have many more reasons to be alarmed by Trump this cycle than in 2020. Before November 2020, Trump had not yet led a deadly insurrection. He had not yet made clear his intentions to replace the civil service with his own loyalists. And he had not yet appointed any of the judges who have proven more loyal to him than to the law.
What Podhorzer doesn’t do in his piece is actually list anything that would drag America into the throes of fascism.
The idea that Trump’s second term would usher in fascism isn’t just absurd—it’s a slap in the face to the millions who have suffered under actual fascist regimes throughout history. Fascism, by definition, involves the total suppression of opposition, the abolition of free elections, and the merging of state and corporate power into authoritarian control.
Think Benito Mussolini’s Italy or Adolf Hitler’s Germany, where dissent was brutally crushed, political opponents were jailed or executed, and the press was reduced to a government propaganda machine.
In comparison, Trump’s four years in office look like a model of democratic dysfunction, not dictatorship. During his first term, Americans were free to protest, criticize him openly, and vote him out of office. The 2020 election happened as scheduled, and despite the noise about election challenges, Trump left the White House on January 20, 2021. No coup, no military takeover, no indefinite suspension of power—just Trump boarding Marine One and Biden taking the oath of office. The peaceful transition may not have been pretty, but it happened.
READ MORE: Trump Faces Media’s Obsession With January 6 While Voters Care About Real Issues
If Trump was aiming for fascism, he did a spectacularly poor job.
Real fascism doesn’t entertain opposing viewpoints—it eliminates them. Yet, under Trump, media outlets relentlessly attacked him without fear of government retaliation. There were no state-run news channels or purges of journalists. Compare that with Mussolini’s control over Italy’s press or Hitler’s use of propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels to manipulate information. In Trump’s America, CNN, MSNBC, and The New York Times freely published critical stories every day.
That’s not fascism—it’s freedom, even if it makes the media’s portrayal of Trump as a dictator seem laughably detached from reality.
Fascist regimes historically centralize power by shutting down elections and political opposition. Hitler’s Nazi party outlawed opposition parties, while Mussolini dismantled Italy’s parliament entirely. Trump, by contrast, lost re-election after being dragged through two impeachment trials. His critics and political opponents—including members of his own party—remained vocal and visible throughout his presidency. Far from silencing dissent, Trump was often criticized for being unable to rein in factions within his own administration.
The real irony here is that the people most loudly accusing Trump of fascism seem far more comfortable with authoritarian measures themselves. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the bureaucrats and lovers of big government demanding lockdowns and censorship—it was the same political establishment that now pretends to champion democracy. Sure, Trump went along with the lockdowns, but if he’s guilty of anything, it’s listening to the establishment in D.C. They pushed for lockdowns, speech suppression, and government intervention in ways that far more closely resemble authoritarianism than anything Trump did.
But, of course, the media conveniently ignores that double standard.
The media’s obsession with labeling Trump a “fascist” is little more than political theater designed to distract voters from the issues that matter. Poll after poll shows that Americans care most about inflation, crime, immigration, and the economy—not recycled narratives about January 6 or imaginary authoritarian takeovers.
Trump, for all his flaws, resonates with voters because he addresses these concerns directly, while his opponents—Biden and Harris—deflect or dodge tough questions.
Ultimately, the “fascist Trump” storyline reveals more about the media than it does about Trump. Americans know the difference between a leader who promises law and order and a dictator who seizes total control. If Trump does win a second term, it won’t be because voters are embracing fascism—it will be because they’re fed up with a media establishment that prioritizes hysteria over truth.
