Even the most ardent Trump supporters admit that Donald Trump’s behavior is, at best, unusual, or, at worst, bizarre and unhinged. While many of his supporters believe his behavior is somehow connected to the bluntness and political incorrectness called for to be a successful businessman, many of his opponents attribute his behavior to the more sinister and well-designed plan to transform our democracy into a fascist state. Other opponents see Trump’s behavior as the manifestation of some form of mental illness. It is surprising that so many people find it credible to believe that Trump is mentally deranged rather than a budding fascist given the abundance of evidence that Trump is a fascist who is aligned with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Fascism is often used as a pejorative and equated with Nazism, although not all fascists have been Nazis. To lessen the derogatory sting of “fascism,” some observers have substituted “authoritarianism,” “totalitarianism,” or “illiberal democracy” as less incendiary substitutes. Nazism is only one of the many different types of fascism. Compared to Nazism, for example, Italian fascism was syncretic and did not have a coherent ideology.
Characteristics of Fascism
While many analysts of fascism have identified various characteristics of fascism, there is a remarkable consistency in what they found. Two analysts, Henry Wallace and Umberto Eco, are of particular interest because their analyses were conducted during or shortly after World War II and were based on their personal experiences with fascism. Their explanations of the dynamics of fascism show the truth that Donald Trump and many of his Republican supporters are without question fascist.
Fascism is often used as a pejorative and equated with Nazism, although not all fascists have been Nazis. To lessen the derogatory sting of “fascism,” some observers have substituted “authoritarianism,” “totalitarianism,” or “illiberal democracy” as less incendiary substitutes. Nazism is only one of the many different types of fascism. Compared to Nazism, for example, Italian fascism was syncretic and did not have a coherent ideology.
Characteristics of Fascism
While many analysts of fascism have identified various characteristics of fascism, there is a remarkable consistency in what they found. Two analysts, Henry Wallace and Umberto Eco, are of particular interest because their analyses were conducted during or shortly after World War II and were based on their personal experiences with fascism. Their explanations of the dynamics of fascism show the truth that Donald Trump and many of his Republican supporters are without question fascist.
Henry Wallace
Henry Wallace, Vice President of the U.S. (1941-1945) identified several characteristics that he believed described American fascists. Some of the characteristics he identified in 1944 include the following:
- The dangerous American fascist is the man who wants … to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power;
- A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religious, cultures, regions, or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends;
- The symptoms of fascist thinking … can be identified by their appeal to prejudice and by the desire to play upon the fears and vanities of different groups in order to gain power;
- American fascists are most easily recognized by their deliberate perversion of truth and fact…their newspapers and propaganda carefully cultivate ever fissure of disunity; and
- [American fascists] claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution…they demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco, an Italian intellectual, born in 1932 – 10 years after Benito Mussolini came to power – lived the first 13 years of his life under a fascist government. In 1995 Eco presented 14 characteristics of fascism, any one of which is sufficient to form the basis of a fascist government, even though some of them are contradictory. Observers drawing on the work Eco have stressed the following characteristics in assessing how closely Trump fits the profile of a fascist.
The most stunning feature of Wallace’s and Eco’s characteristics is how closely they track each other and describe the behaviors of Donald Trump, his administration, and many in the current Republican Party. (See the appendix for the remainder of Eco’s characteristics.) Both analyses find fear or discomfort with different people fuels the racism and xenophobia that is central feature of fascism. A second theme found in both analyses is the extent to which the widespread use of lies and deception are necessary to the establishment and maintenance of fascism. A third consistent theme is the reliance on national defense, war and victory, and super patriotism to drive fascism. A fourth critical theme is the reliance on elitism and its counterpart, commoners to sort people. The fifth theme is the treatment of women (and gays) as a fundamental component of fascism.
- Cult of action - Fascists distrust expertise and the intellectual world because too often, experts and thought do not favor their ideas. Instead, they prefer actions that are consistent with their preconceived ideas. Trump has assailed political opponents for being too lethargic or cerebral in opposition to himself. The difficulty he has had implementing his Muslim Ban is an exemplar of his preference for action rather than planned action.
- Fear of individual differences - The most powerful appeal fascist leaders have is to instill or heighten fear of individual differences in their followers. The fascist leader labels those who are different as intruders and calls for their expulsion to restore safety. Trump has announced the establishment of an office within the Department of Homeland Security, Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) to give quarterly reports on crimes committed by immigrants. The purpose of highlighting crimes committed by immigrants is clearly to heighten the threat of immigrants to make government actions against them more palatable to voters.
- Life is lived for the struggle - Fascists believe that life is lived to war against enemies, whoever they may be. As in any war there must be a final battle. To defeat those enemies, there must be a final battle after which the war will be won and a utopian period will follow. But, there is no utopia and so new enemies must be found against whom another war must be fought. Failure to whole heartedly engage in war against the current enemy to achieve utopia is treason. Trump’s behavior as President since his inauguration has shown Trump’s need for enemies. He has tried to resurrect Hillary Clinton and President Barak Obama as enemies, engaged briefly with the intelligence community as his enemy, and then flirted with the federal courts as his enemy before pronouncing the Main Stream Media as his enemy.
- Elitism is a typical aspect of fascism - Fascism relies, in part, on sorting people into winners and losers, the strong and the weak; patricians and plebeians, and the best and the worst with fascists being favored. However, because every citizen of a fascist country is called upon to be a fascist, all citizens must be strong, patrician, and the best. As a result, starting with the fascist leader, every subordinate in the hierarchy of his underlings, despises everyone beneath him as weak, plebeian, and the worst. Trump seems to epitomize this hierarchical inferiority in his mockery of the disabled journalist, constant reference to winners and losers, and his refusal to pay business subordinates for their work.
- Substituting domination of women for war - Fascists substitute sexual relationships for their war against enemies. Their sexual relationships are characterized by a disdain for women and intolerance for nonstandard sexual relationships such as homosexuality or chastity. Trump’s opinion of women was summarized in his own words from an audio in which he admitted to assaulting and pursuing women for his pleasure. More importantly, several women have accused Trump of grabbing women’s genitalia without his their permission in behavior. His behavior can best be described “counting coup,” (see article reference) an acknowledged substitute for war.
- The language of fascism is Newspeak - Fascist leaders use a simplistic vocabulary and an elementary syntax to speak to the people. The purpose of this impoverished a way of communicating, newspeak, is to limit the key tool for critical reasoning, complex language. Trump’s favorite communication medium, twitter, not only seems designed for newspeak, but also acts as a translator from nuanced communication to newspeak.
The most stunning feature of Wallace’s and Eco’s characteristics is how closely they track each other and describe the behaviors of Donald Trump, his administration, and many in the current Republican Party. (See the appendix for the remainder of Eco’s characteristics.) Both analyses find fear or discomfort with different people fuels the racism and xenophobia that is central feature of fascism. A second theme found in both analyses is the extent to which the widespread use of lies and deception are necessary to the establishment and maintenance of fascism. A third consistent theme is the reliance on national defense, war and victory, and super patriotism to drive fascism. A fourth critical theme is the reliance on elitism and its counterpart, commoners to sort people. The fifth theme is the treatment of women (and gays) as a fundamental component of fascism.
Trump’s Bizarre Behavior
Another explanation for Donald Trump’s bizarre behavior is some form of mental illness or deficiency. Pundits have suggested that his behavior was bizarre since he rode down an escalator to announce his candidacy for the President in June 2015. He consistently lies about all manner of things including fanciful and hateful accusations about Barack Obama, the historic size of his electoral victory, the number of people attending his inauguration, and the chaos reigning in the White House. He embellishes his achievements about his business successes, his administration’s accomplishments, and his knowledge and abilities. He belittles and denigrates the handicapped, opponents such as political opponents and the media.
This weekend’s twitter storms (claiming that President Obama ordered a wiretap on Trump and reviving insults about Arnold Schwartzenegger are iconic examples of how his bizarre behavior may signal an underlying mental illness. Mental health professionals, called to question Trump’s mental illness even though they had not personally examined him, identified actions that reflected the American Psychiatric Association’s criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). For example, one criterion of NPD is “envy of others or requires excessive admiration” that may account for his incessant lying to match the achievements of others of whom he is envious. Another criterion of NPD is “requiring excessive admiration” may lead to embellishing his achievements. And, the criterion of believing that he is “special” or “sense of entitlement” may underlie his belittlement of others. As various mental health practitioners have concluded, Trump’s behavior fits NPD profile.
Recently, one physician has proposed that neurosyphilis, caused by untreated syphilis may offer a neuropsychiatric diagnosis as an explanation for his behavior. Besides meeting expected behavioral diagnostic criteria -- irritability, loss of ability to concentrate, delusional thinking, and grandiosity – Trump’s admitted sexual behavior during the 1980’s is also consistent with the opportunity for infection. Of course, without a physical examination, without testing this diagnosis cannot be established.
The notion that Trump is unable to effectively discharge his duties is also convenient because of the Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. According to this amendment Vice-President Mike Pence, with the concurrence of eight members of the cabinet, can remove the President from office. While this seems to be a relatively simple way of removing President Trump, NPD and other borderline personality disorders are unlikely to cause behavior so bizarre as to lead to support the 25th amendment.
Conclusion
These two explanations for Trump’s bizarre behavior are not mutually exclusive and may enhance each other. But, based on the various characteristics of fascism described, Trump, his administration, and many Republicans certainly harbor fascist inclinations.
If Trump is allowed to fulfil his fascist inclinations, then our form of Constitutional government will disappear; the individual rights we enjoy will evaporate, and the most virulent form of white nationalism this country has ever seen will become the law of the land. Moreover, Trump’s time table for implementing a fascist takeover is undoubtedly sooner rather than later. If left unchecked, Trump’s plans for a fascist government could occur by the 2018 or 2020 elections.
The institutions that stand between Trump and fascism are the courts, the Main Stream Media, and the resistance movement. The Democrats are not able to stop Trump and the Republicans show no inclination to prevent the erosion of our democracy. While the resistance movement offers perhaps the best barrier to fascism, it could also have the unanticipated consequence of speeding up Trump’s attempt to carry out a fascist take-over by facilitating a law and order crack down on demonstrations.
In the meantime, the Main Stream Media, many Progressives, other institutions fail to see the fascist threat we face. If some of us to find the thought of a fascist take-over so traumatic, we prefer to ignore it, we can only hope that the increasingly fascist attacks on democracy awaken all of us in time to take action.
Another explanation for Donald Trump’s bizarre behavior is some form of mental illness or deficiency. Pundits have suggested that his behavior was bizarre since he rode down an escalator to announce his candidacy for the President in June 2015. He consistently lies about all manner of things including fanciful and hateful accusations about Barack Obama, the historic size of his electoral victory, the number of people attending his inauguration, and the chaos reigning in the White House. He embellishes his achievements about his business successes, his administration’s accomplishments, and his knowledge and abilities. He belittles and denigrates the handicapped, opponents such as political opponents and the media.
This weekend’s twitter storms (claiming that President Obama ordered a wiretap on Trump and reviving insults about Arnold Schwartzenegger are iconic examples of how his bizarre behavior may signal an underlying mental illness. Mental health professionals, called to question Trump’s mental illness even though they had not personally examined him, identified actions that reflected the American Psychiatric Association’s criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). For example, one criterion of NPD is “envy of others or requires excessive admiration” that may account for his incessant lying to match the achievements of others of whom he is envious. Another criterion of NPD is “requiring excessive admiration” may lead to embellishing his achievements. And, the criterion of believing that he is “special” or “sense of entitlement” may underlie his belittlement of others. As various mental health practitioners have concluded, Trump’s behavior fits NPD profile.
Recently, one physician has proposed that neurosyphilis, caused by untreated syphilis may offer a neuropsychiatric diagnosis as an explanation for his behavior. Besides meeting expected behavioral diagnostic criteria -- irritability, loss of ability to concentrate, delusional thinking, and grandiosity – Trump’s admitted sexual behavior during the 1980’s is also consistent with the opportunity for infection. Of course, without a physical examination, without testing this diagnosis cannot be established.
The notion that Trump is unable to effectively discharge his duties is also convenient because of the Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. According to this amendment Vice-President Mike Pence, with the concurrence of eight members of the cabinet, can remove the President from office. While this seems to be a relatively simple way of removing President Trump, NPD and other borderline personality disorders are unlikely to cause behavior so bizarre as to lead to support the 25th amendment.
Conclusion
These two explanations for Trump’s bizarre behavior are not mutually exclusive and may enhance each other. But, based on the various characteristics of fascism described, Trump, his administration, and many Republicans certainly harbor fascist inclinations.
If Trump is allowed to fulfil his fascist inclinations, then our form of Constitutional government will disappear; the individual rights we enjoy will evaporate, and the most virulent form of white nationalism this country has ever seen will become the law of the land. Moreover, Trump’s time table for implementing a fascist takeover is undoubtedly sooner rather than later. If left unchecked, Trump’s plans for a fascist government could occur by the 2018 or 2020 elections.
The institutions that stand between Trump and fascism are the courts, the Main Stream Media, and the resistance movement. The Democrats are not able to stop Trump and the Republicans show no inclination to prevent the erosion of our democracy. While the resistance movement offers perhaps the best barrier to fascism, it could also have the unanticipated consequence of speeding up Trump’s attempt to carry out a fascist take-over by facilitating a law and order crack down on demonstrations.
In the meantime, the Main Stream Media, many Progressives, other institutions fail to see the fascist threat we face. If some of us to find the thought of a fascist take-over so traumatic, we prefer to ignore it, we can only hope that the increasingly fascist attacks on democracy awaken all of us in time to take action.