What We Talk About When We Talk About Fascism

With Apologies to Raymond Carver and Umberto Eco

You don’t have to look very hard to find someone accusing the Trump administration of fascism. It was a constant theme of his first term and usage of the epithet has only increased since his inauguration earlier this year (unbelievable that he’s only been in office less than a year). And while many of the things Trump is doing violate American political norms and in some cases federal law, the accusations of fascism are often very lazy. It is not necessarily fascist to impose tariffs or aggressively enforce immigration law. Words have meanings, and if we want to accuse someone of fascism we should know what we’re talking about and connect that accusation to an actual pattern of behavior that aligns with fascism’s definition.

So then how to define ‘fascism’? Plenty of people have tried, but none more successfully in my opinion than the Most Erudite Man In The World Umberto Eco¹. In 1995 Eco, an Italian child of fascism (he grew up in Mussolini’s Italy), wrote a piece for the New York Review of Books call Ur-Fascism. You can read it here, and you should because it’s excellent. What I like about this essay and the reason I’m choosing to frame this post around it is that Eco connects fascism to its historical roots without making the definition totally dependent upon the particular circumstances in which it arose. That is to say, he is not positing a narrow definition of fascism as a political movement specific to Italy in the first half of the 20th century. Rather he identifies the lasting power of fascism as a descriptor of a certain kind of totalitarian movement to its recurrent features and (interestingly) lack of a specific philosophy. Nazi Germany had a very clear ideological underpinning; Italian fascism was more malleable. The Soviet Union under Stalin was totalitarian in almost all facets of life; there were some aspects of life in fascist Italy that were comparatively free even at the height of the Mussolini government’s power. The core of fascism isn’t a policy agenda but rather an emotional one. As long as that emotional agenda is served as a way to maintain power for the regime the details of governance can be fluid. Eco lays out the core of the fascist program in fourteen points. I’ll go through the list and for each of them consider whether and to what degree they are embodied by the Trump administration².

The Cult of Tradition

Ur-fascism first and foremost venerates tradition. You cannot have a fascist movement without a message of returning to or reclaiming a glorious past. All truths have been revealed; there is no ‘new learning’ when it comes to the ideal state. The actual shape of the past the fascist longs to return to doesn’t have to be historically accurate³, but the core message of national ancestor worship must be rhetorically front and center.

That this form of constructed national memory is a core feature of Trumpismo only requires citing four letters: MAGA. The notion that American had been destroyed from within⁴ and that only a return to tradition could save us was the centerpiece of Trump’s first presidential campaign, and still gets a lot of air time even as he’s become more focused on his grievances. The cult of tradition is incredibly strong on the right wing generally, showing up in everything from evangelical revival to Ballerina Farm. Closely related to the cult of tradition is:

Rejection of Modernism

The rejection Eco is citing is not purely about technology. Fascists can certainly embrace forms of technological progress, especially those related to military power. Rather, it’s a rejection of the habits of thinking and acting that characterize modernity. For the original fascists and to a degree modern ones this took the form of rejecting Enlightenment values. For Trump it is expressed as rejection of globalization, academic expertise, representative governing institutions vs. unitary power, progressive social norms, and climate change. Fascism rejects modernity because it seeks to elevate revelation and charisma above rationalism. Eschewing rationalism leads to the third facet of ur-fascism.

Action For Action’s Sake

As Eco says, for the fascist

Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.

Emblematic of this spirit in the Trump administration are the president’s unilateral imposition of tariffs, with initial numbers seemingly based off of a formula provided by ChatGPT. Of course those initial numbers didn’t matter much since Trump changes them constantly with seemingly no guiding logic or reason⁵. DOGE is another great example of the administration making massive changes to the structure of the executive branch with virtually no planning or consideration of the consequences. The important thing is to be seen to be doing things. What those things are is almost besides the point. Nevertheless questioning the president’s actions is completely verboten.

Disagreement As Treason

The fourth component of ur-fascism is the treatment of disagreement as treason. Mussolini might have allowed non-state sanctioned poets to write in avant-garde style, but he imprisoned Gramsci until his death. Freedom doesn’t extend to dissent. In this instance Trump is (so far) constrained by America’s very strong free speech guarantees, but where possible he has eliminated anyone who spoke up against him whether that’s cracking down on law firms and universities deemed unfriendly to the regime or stripping visas from foreign students who criticized his administration. And certainly it is impossible to remain a Republican in good standing being openly critical of Trump. A recent example is Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie who is going to be facing Trump backed primary threats because he dares to keep insisting on the release of the Epstein files long after Trump decided he didn’t need that particular carrot to win elections anymore.

Disagreement cannot be allowed. Disagreement is a sign of diversity of thought, and the fifth feature of fascism is:

Fear of Difference

Fascism exploits the fear of difference. It relies for much of its power on the fear of social intruders, whether those be racial minorities or immigrants. Again, this is so obviously true of MAGA that it feels silly to explicate. Alongside returning to a glorious past Trump’s most consistent and powerful message has always been about the risk that outsiders, whether those be Muslims or illegal immigrants, pose to the nation. The differences Trump expertly exploits are not limited to actual non-Americans of course, he’s also adept at inflaming fears of difference between Americans, specifically white Christians vs. godless liberals, LGBT people (especially focused on trans individuals), and woke intellectuals. The fear of difference ties neatly into the sixth facet of fascism.

Exploitation of Frustration

The aspiring fascist identifies a group that is struggling, whether economically or from political or cultural humiliation (or all three), and provides them with a scapegoat: the Other. If the fascist is smart he will make this appeal to a group that represents a genuine majority; fascism is not generally a minority movement like the Bolsheviks, it’s a form of populism. This is why fascism is most apt to arise when large swathes of the population feel disempowered and disrespected by the social elite. Of course Trump has built his political career on doing exactly this, on giving struggling lower and middle class Americans someone to hate and blame for their problems. Economic and social shifts driven by technological change make for bad narratives; illegal immigrants are easy to loathe even if the perturbations in 21st century America have little to do with them. Besides, immigrants feed neatly into the next feature of fascism.

Conspiratorial Nationalism

If you’re poor, un or underemployed, lacking in prospects, living in a decaying community, you don’t have a lot going for you. But one thing you do have is your Americanness. Now far be it from me to criticize patriotism. I consider myself very patriotic⁶ and I admire that feeling in my fellow citizens. But where fascism departs from healthy patriotism is in the conspiratorial nature of its nationalism. It’s not only that America is great, it’s that America is great and there’s a secret cabal that is trying to destroy her. On this front Trump is somewhat more circumspect. He’s certainly never disavowed this strain of thought in his supporters, whether we’re talking QAnon or Great Replacement⁷. But he also hasn’t openly embraced it though you could make an argument that his determination that tariffs are necessary because the rest of the world is screwing us as shown by the existence of trade deficits is an example of it⁸. But whether Trump spearheads it or not, conspiratorial nationalism is a consistent feature of MAGA as a movement.

Humiliation By Enemies

The followers of the fascist leader must feel a sense of humiliation by their enemies. This resentment is a driving force of their movement and lends it its emotional power. But in the face of that humiliation the fascist convinces his flock that they can overcome their foes, who are simultaneously weak and powerful.

Certainly this sense of humiliation and the paradoxical strength and weakness of the opposition is present within MAGA. Think back to Clinton’s ‘basket of deplorables’ comment, or any number of elite characterizations of the MAGA movement as racist, stupid, and xenophobic. Trump’s base burns with humiliation at the hands of liberal elites⁹. Libs are both powerful (control the culture, business, and government) and weak (soyboys, blue haired SJWs, anti-gun, don’t enlist). It’s no accident that Trump constantly extolls his love for his followers. He’s drawing a contrast between his love for the common man and the condescension towards them exemplified by a Hillary Clinton, the New York Times, people who attend Davos, etc.

Life As Struggle

Within the context of fascism life is a constant battle. Peace is inherently appeasement. Since life is struggle, the only possible denouement is a climactic battle after which the fascists, upon prevailing, will control the polis. Of course this final battle never arrives, or if it does the fascists lose (e.g. World War 2). MAGA certainly sees itself locked in a perpetual struggle against elitists, immigrants, and globalists, but whether there’s a final battle is more uncertain. Elements of MAGA like QAnon have armageddon embedded in their mythology (‘the storm’)¹⁰, and Trump constantly uses apocalyptic language, but Trumpism qua Trumpism doesn’t explicitly frame itself in terms of a final battle outside of Trump winning elections represent ‘final’ victories over his political enemies.

Popular Elitism

Following from life as struggle, the inevitable winners of that struggle must represent society’s elite. But of course fascism is also a populist movement, so what do? The answer lies in the syncretism of popular elitism. This seeming paradox is reconciled by the notion that the fascist lumpenproletariat is in fact the ‘real’ America, the virile, energetic, virtuous, and good masses struggling against the deceptive, weak, and effeminate elite. At the same time the masses require strong leadership to harness their inherent virtue, and this is represented by the generalissimo, the strongman.

Trump plays into this dynamic constantly. ‘Only I can save you’. ‘I will be your retribution’. The neverending paeans to the virtue of his supporters who have been unjustly put upon by treacherous elites. It’s all there in spades. Popular elitism, the elevation of the common man as the new aristocrat under the iron hand of the Dear Leader is a core element of MAGA.

Every Man a Hero

Fascism elevates martyrdom and creates a cult of heroism. I do not think this element is as present in MAGA as it was in original Italian fascism (or the Spanish version under Franco). Trump is a little to narcissistic for that. While MAGA does encourage its adherents to see themselves as patriotic warriors in a cultural battle (e.g. ‘stop the steal’ and ‘save America’ sloganeering), only Trump is the real hero and everyone else experience heroism and martyrdom vicariously through him. This is why the various legal prosecutions after his first term only strengthened his standing with his base despite revealing numerous examples of genuine malfeasance: it turned him into yet more of a martyr.

In the original fascisms the cult of heroism also had more a military flair to it than is present in MAGA. While MAGA does feature worship of military strength it does not call most of its followers to themselves don camo and engage in armed struggle¹¹. So while elements of the cult of heroism exist in Trumpism I’d say this one is only partial credit, mostly because MAGA is not primarily a popular militarized movement¹².

Machismo

Permanent war and martyrdom are hard. They require a lot from their participants. Hyper-masculinity and policing of sex roles is much easier. Fascism insists on rigid gender roles and explicitly elevates the masculine above the feminine. It is disdainful of any deviations from strict gender performance, whether that’s explicit departures like homosexuality or more nuanced ones like effeminacy in men¹³.

Trump obviously fits this mold to a tee. Trump himself adopts a hyper-masculine persona; he’s all aggression all the time, whether that be against his opponents or sexually. He surrounds himself with men like Pete Hegseth who are caricatures of masculinity and famously does not employ any women who aren’t classically pretty and heavily made up at all times. In his first term he loved his generals for what he thought was their aggression and masculinity only to feel betrayed when they turned out to be thoughtful people who considered the consequences of their actions before taking them. And of course disdain for an persecution of sexual minorities is a key feature of MAGA. Trans rights looms roughly equal to illegal immigration as sins of the left in Trumpist mythos.

Qualitative Populism

This one is subtle. Citizens are individuals, but The People are an amorphous entity that, while possessed of a single will¹⁴, are not necessarily capable of expressing it. Thus the leader becomes the oracle of the popular will. For the MAGA fascist vox populi vox dei, and Trump is Gabriel.

Since what matters is the voice of the people rather than individual squabbling, and the leader is the voice, fascism disdains parliamentary government. This is pretty clear within Trumpism as Trump simply ignores the constitutionally mandated role of Congress whenever possible and certainly doesn’t see them as a legitimate counterforce within government when they push back against him¹⁵. No, the leader represents the popular will and as such any resistance to him is illegitimate resistance towards The People.

Newspeak

The final element of ur-fascism is control of language. Eco borrows the Orwellian term ‘newspeak’ to describe the way fascism redefines and limits language to police the boundaries of acceptable discourse. MAGA blacklists certain words like ‘climate change’, ‘diversity’, and ‘science based’ while promoting binary moral framings that eliminate nuance in their manichaeism. Many of Trump’s favorite phrases like ‘fake news’ and ‘deep state’ exhibit this tendency. The redefinition of words like ‘invasion’ (to describe illegal immigrants who are not in fact invading in any military sense) and ‘patriotism’ (loyalty to Trump and MAGA, not the ideals of the American founding) also represent a powerful and largely successful¹⁶ attempt to control language. And could there possibly be a more Orwellian term than Kellyanne Conway’s ‘alternative facts’? It’s textbook doublespeak: using language to mask falsehoods as truth, pure propaganda used entirely instrumentally with no concern whatsoever with veracity. Complex issues are inevitably reduced to emotionally charged binaries. Semantic inversion of accurate reporting into ‘fake news’. Erasure of terms that promote critical discourse. For all his seeming discursiveness Trump has a natural genius for Orwellian neologism.

Conclusion

While there are a few deviations from Eco’s fourteen point ur-fascism, MAGA aligns closely enough that I’m more than comfortable calling it a fascist movement. At every turn Trump and his MAGA mouthpieces promote popular elitism, machismo, conspiratorial nationalism, fear of difference, and a return to a glorious if ahistorical past. Trump himself is a master of exploiting the frustrations and humiliations of Americans left behind by technological shifts and the rise of global free trade, alchemizing their rage into a potent political force. So the next time a reactionary calls you out for decrying Trump and MAGA as fascist, point them to this article. They won’t read it, or Eco, but at least you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’re not just throwing out a lazy slur. MAGA is fascist to its core. Thanks for reading.

1. That’s only a little tongue in cheek. I’m not sure any modern author has researched and written so deeply and well across such a broad range of topics. If you’ve never read The Name of the Rose go buy it anon.

2. Buckle up kids, this isn’t going to be a short article.

3. And as Eco points out is usually syncretic. American fascists, for example, usually can’t pinpoint a specific date they wish America would return to, rather they pick and choose aspects of America from across our history and form a composite ideal that becomes the totem.

4. By liberals, specifically.

5. Other than perhaps your willingness to build his golf courses per Vietnam.

6. I am far from an anti-American progressive. America is the greatest country in the world, the greatest nation the world has ever seen by almost any measure despite our flaws.

7. I think it would shock most liberals who never consume conservative media how unquestionably accepted the great replacement theory is on the right. It certainly shocked me when I started talking about it with conservatives only to get the ‘oh, of course that’s happening’ reaction.

8. Personally I chalk that one up to economic illiteracy and general paranoia.

9. Note: that the feelings of humiliation are genuine and spring from real disdain on the part of one’s political opponents doesn’t undermine the fascist nature of the reaction.

10. And of course Christian Nationalists believe in the literal biblical armageddon, a battle between the forces of good and evil on the Plains of Megiddo that will usher in the reign of a returned Christ.

11. Which is good, since MAGA is mostly a movement of middle aged and old people for whom such armed struggle would be physically difficult if not impossible no matter how many guns they have

12. They want to use actual troops for that part.

13. Though interestingly masculinity in women is less punished apart from in person presentation.

14. I’ll spare you a digression into Rousseau, but if you’re interested in exploring this concept he’s a good place to look.

15. Not that they do. The vast majority of Republican legislators couldn’t be any more supine if they were literal dogs rolling over showing their bellies.

16. On the right, less so in general culture as MAGA has not actually achieved a lasting cultural victory as of writing.