What constitutes a fascist – and is it fair to categorise Trump, The Leader of the Free World, alongside Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco?
The New European front page in February 2017 asked the question that got Britain debating… ‘IS TRUMP A FASCIST?’
The cover prompted fierce argument, not just on whether he is or not, but on what actually defines a fascist.
One man who came up with his own definition was Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco, who created 14 points to sum it up, in his 1995 essay Eternal Fascism. We list them here, and our verdict in each case. See what you decide:
1 – Creates a cult of tradition
Trump’s campaign battle cry ‘Make America Great Again’ screams of glory days now lost
2 – Rejects of modernism
Globalism and internationalism is firmly rejected in the Trump mindset
3 – Constructs a cult of action for action’s sake
‘Build that wall! build that wall!’
4 – Promotes disagreement as treason
For evidence, see his repeated threat to ‘lock up’ Hillary Clinton and suggestion that judges will be culpable in any future terror attacks
5 – Fear of difference
His politics are built on division: See Mexicans, and the wall, Muslims and the travel ban
6 – Appeal to social frustration
His promise to bring jobs back to the Rust Belt
7 – The obsession with a plot
His determination that the mainstream media are out to get him
8 – The enemy is both strong and weak
Trump says he will ‘destroy’ ISIS and ‘defeat them fast’. And yet the threat they present is so vast he is attempting to bring in an ultra-draconian travel ban to keep them out
9 – Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy
Trump has promised to ‘rebuild’ the US military and his chief of staff Steve Bannon has predicted military conflict with China
10 – Contempt for the weak
He wants to turn away all refugees – children, the elderly, the sick – just because of their association with certain countries
11 – Everybody is educated to become a hero
Trump has yet to settle on how to promote the All-American Hero to his favour
12 – Machismo and weaponry
His ‘grab her by the p***y’ comment which he put down to ‘locker-room banter’; obsession with the size of his hands
13 – Selective populism
Trump has his fervent supporters who filled rallies during the election campaign. But protests against him have been just as sizeable. He channels the views of the former, and ignores those of the latter
14 – Fascism speaks Newspeak
Eco says Fascists make use of ‘impoverished vocabulary … in order to limit critical reasoning’ – see any of Trump’s tweets
By our count, Trump scores 13 out 14
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