Reich: Trump and Republicans have embraced these 'five elements of fascism'

17 June 2023

Former United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich on Saturday identified five factors that underscore how far down the right-wing rabbit hole twice-indicted ex-President Donald Trump and the Republican Party have dragged American politics.

"'Authoritarianism' isn't adequate" to "describe what Trump wants for America," Reich wrote in a Guardian opinion column. "It is fascism. Fascism stands for a coherent set of ideas different from – and more dangerous than – authoritarianism."

Reich noted what he believes differentiates fascism from mere authoritarianism.

According to Reich, Trump and the GOP have embraced the following:

Rejection of democracy in favor of a strongman depends on galvanizing popular rage.

Popular rage draws on a nationalism based on a supposed superior race or ethnicity.

That superior race or ethnicity is justified by social Darwinist strength and violence, as exemplified by heroic warriors.

Strength, violence and the heroic warrior are centered on male power.

Those tenets, Reich concluded, "are not the elements of authoritarianism. They are the essential elements of fascism."

Reich's full editorial continues here.

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