Democrats Are Finally Using The "F" Word: Fascism

It's time for Democrats and corporate media to loudly, openly, and consistently use the word fascism to describe the threat of Donald Trump and MAGA.

(David Ramos/Getty Images)

After a decade, Democrats and corporate media have finally started to use the correct language to describe the ideology of a twice-impeached, criminal rapist and his MAGA cult. Shockingly, it isn’t “economic anxiety,” considering they have no problem voting for a wealthy fake billionaire born with a silver spoon who squandered his daddy’s money and gives tax cuts to the 1%.

It isn’t even “conservatism” considering this increasingly violent and belligerent movement has rejected and renounced some of their leading conservative stalwarts, such as Liz Cheney, George W. Bush, David French, and George Will.

MAGA has three major ingredients, which include White Supremacy, Christian Nationalism, and Authoritarianism. I’ll also add a dollop of greed, hatred of Impossible burgers, and hypocrisy. The gumbo soup that houses all of them is known as fascism. In Germany, it took the form of Nazism under Adolf Hitler, who used terms like “poisoning the blood” when referring to Jews and was obsessed with promoting good “bloodlines” and “genes” to strengthen the Third Reich. These are all terms that Donald Trump has used, word for word, to imagine an America made great again when we are rid of people from “shithole countries” with “bad genes” who are allegedly “raping” everyone and committing crimes in the suburbs. Fascism also took root in Italy under Benito Mussolini, another "strongman” who projected toxic masculinity and power to his loyal cult of blackshirts who referred to him as “Il Duce” (The Leader).

In America, fascism has gone mainstream thanks to Donald Trump, a man who incited a violent insurrection against our free and fair election by deploying his MAGA brownshirts to attack the US Capitol. In the past week, he has promised to unleash the military and national guard against his critics, US citizens, whom he refers to as the “enemy from within,” and use the Alien Sedition Act to round up immigrants. He said he would create camps and will deport up to 15 million undocumented people. He has incited stochastic terrorism against poll workers, journalists, judges, law enforcement, Democrats, and even his former Vice President by spreading lies and Nazi conspiracy theories that warn white Americans that they will be “replaced” or killed by people of color. He dines with antisemitic Holocaust deniers, such as Nick Fuentes, and blames Jews if he were to lose the 2024 election. He admires authoritarian leaders such as Orban of Hungary and Putin of Russia but shows nothing but disdain for our NATO allies and veterans.

So, would you call him a fascist or a man who is just engaging in an “improvisational departure?” Don’t take my word for it. Listen to experts on authoritarianism and fascism, such as Ruth Ben Ghiat, Timothy Snyder, and Jason Stanley, who have been sounding the alarm for years.

Well, finally, after a decade, it seems Democrats and corporate media are willing to call it for what it is. During her interview with The Breakfast Club, Kamala Harris agreed with host Charlamagne Tha God that Trump’s vision for America is “fascist.” Finally! This is on the heels of the revelation that General Milley referred to Trump as “a total fascist.” Over at “both sides until we all die” CNN, Jake Tapper quoted the definition of fascism for the audience after discussing Trump’s Fox interview where he ranted about dealing with the “enemy from within.” At MSNBC, which is so liberal that it has several Republican anchors, host Chris Hayes made the case that Trump is running a “textbook fascist campaign.”

With less than 3 weeks left, it’s critical for the future of our ailing democracy that our establishment leaders and pundits stop playing Taboo and start naming Trump for the threat his movement represents to our country. Tell us the stakes. Give us the context. Connect the dots. Invite historians and experts to make it plain. Show Americans there are no “both sides” and talk about the disastrous consequences that would result from a fascist regime. Read sections out loud from Project 2025. Hell, do what Kamala Harris did at her rally and just play a montage of Trump’s quotes. What’s common to us isn’t common to everyone especially since we live in the United States of Amnesia.

I’ve always said Democrats bring a pencil to a knife fight and corporate media bends the knee to Republicans. The damage, sadly, is done, but that doesn’t mean we can’t correct the course. Calling Trump a fascist and educating the American public about the imminent threat of MAGA authoritarianism is a necessary step in the right direction to save our country.