At every level—in his language, rhetoric, policy and aspirations—Donald Trump is a fascist who represents an existential threat to democratic institutions and promises danger to the marginalized.
By now, you should be thoroughly revolted by his language towards migrants. It is abundantly clear that Trump and his allies will jeopardize the safety and well-being of the most vulnerable among us, to elicit fear and seize power via the mandate of a disillusioned, angry electorate. This is a political movement banking on the fact that enough people in this country will be credulous enough to blame migrants for all their problems.
The Springfield, Ohio fiasco on its own should be disqualifying. It was a cynical and racist propaganda spree, accusing migrants of eating dogs and cats and effectively shutting down the city for an extended period of time. The migrants escaping Haiti—a country devastated by colonial theft, natural disaster and civil unrest—arrived legally, under temporary protected status. The majority of the Haitian community in Springfield moved to the city from other parts of the state because, incidentally, Springfield was a city in decline that needed workers and taxpayers.
A hardworking community of immigrants—in the same spirit as mine and many of your ancestors—living free of the desperation and persecution they faced in Haiti, had their lives upended because of Trump’s racist lies. Even as the situation simmered down, Trump has promised to revoke the temporary protected status of these migrants, deporting them back to the humanitarian crisis and violence they once escaped.
“Illegal Haitian migrants taking over a beautiful place…it was so beautiful, now its just, what a place…I’m angry about young American girls being raped and sodomized and murdered by savage criminal aliens,” said Trump at an Arizona rally in Sept.
While he sanctimoniously insists that migrants “do it the legal way”, he demonizes and threatens the legal status, safety and survival of law-abiding, documented immigrants. This behavior confirms what should have been obvious all along, this is not about documentation, it is about race and national identity.
His rallies are particularly disturbing in this regard. In March, at an Ohio rally, he said, “The Democrats say, ‘Please don’t call them animals. They’re humans.’ I said, ‘No, they’re not humans, they’re not humans, they’re animals’.”
This is genocidal rhetoric. He uses this language every day, over a long period, to establish a collective understanding among his base that migrants are to be feared and eliminated. Just last Sunday, Trump held what was functionally a hate rally in Madison Square Garden.
On Monday, at a Georgia rally, he repeated the lie that “Kamala is importing savage criminals who assault, rape, murder our women and our girls” and claimed that “[Congo] doesn’t want to take care of them…They come out of Congo prisons. They come from Africa, they come from the Middle East, and of course they come from South America,” and he laid out his conclusion that “The United States is now an occupied country” and promised that he would “launch the largest deportation program in American history (and) rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered.”
This is not a political outsider shooting from the hip, misspeaking or talking in hyperbole. Trump has consistently made this case, all over the country. He is creating a narrative, establishing an enemy, and being unmistakably clear about his solution—mass deportation. Which, make no mistake, would be a crime against humanity and a stain on this country’s history.
Fascists do not just attack from one angle, they seek to deteriorate any democratic institution. It should be understood that Trump’s antagonization of the media is not simply a function of personal grievances. Since entering politics nearly a decade ago, Trump has made it his mission to discredit the media, labeling them “the enemy of the people,” This language, repeated consistently for years, is intended to destroy the credibility of the institutions that exist to hold him to account.
Trump’s fascism is adaptable. He will attack where he sees an opportunity. When transgender Americans are being scapegoated, harassed and murdered, Trump views them as a new vulnerability in American society—their livelihoods and struggle—ready to be exploited for his gain.
It is all there for public consumption. Trump uses fascist language every day, spares us no doubt of his intentions, and his former cabinet and acolytes, at an unprecedented level, have warned of his authoritarian aspirations.
If not for everything else, Trump was the first President to attempt an overthrow of American democracy. He pressured the Georgia Secretary of State to “find 11,780 votes”, demanded they “stop the count” in swing states, intimidated and harassed election workers, and—in a last-ditch effort—incited a violent mob to stop the certification of the election.
In his reckless self-interest, Trump sought to remain in office, even if it meant destroying a nearly 250-year-old tradition of peaceful transfers of power.
If it comes to pass, a Trump victory says a lot about this country. An electorate that chooses him is an electorate that—whether they name it or not—needs fascism to feel safe, and the most vulnerable, those on the margins of society, will bear the costs of that trade-off.
