'The fascist nightmare looms': Columnist says Trump’s election may end democracy worldwide

If former President Donald Trump wins a second term in November, one columnist believes it could lead to the eventual rise of fascistic governments around the globe.

Rather than standing alone as a threat to American democracy, Guardian columnist Simon Tisdall argued that the former president is instead part of a larger trend of far-right, authoritarian leaders taking control of Western democracies in the Americas and Europe. He noted that despite a relatively prosperous economy, liberal institutions today are "weak and discredited." He compared Trump's MAGA movement to Vladimir Putin supporters in Russia, as both have a pattern of "valuing charisma over character, preferring the strongman to the right man, and turning a blind eye to corruption and lies."

Tisdall pointed to Monday's Iowa Caucuses as an example of how Trump's "anti-democratic" strategy prevailed over the face-to-face strategy practiced by other candidates like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who invested tens of millions of dollars in a ground game that spread to all 99 counties, yet failed to win a single one.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

"Trump’s approach to Iowa exemplified how anti-democratic anti-politics works. He mostly avoided rallies and meet-and-greets with voters, boycotted debates with rival candidates, and travelled, aloof, in a power-tripping motorcade of black secret service limousines," Tisdall wrote. "Yet his imperial mien, lavishly funded TV advertising and harsh take-no-prisoners policy agenda produced a record win."

When looking at democracies around the world, Tisdall observed that "enclaves of freedom" are "besieged" by authoritarianism as restless voters seek strongmen who will ensure "security, uniformity, conformity and social validation for the dominant majority at the cost of civic freedoms, legal accountability, independent media, diversity and minority rights."

"India is succumbing to one-man rule, beguiled by the intolerant Hindu nationalism of Narendra Modi. Israel’s democracy is presently self-destructing. In Africa, coups abound. In Europe, Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, scrambled to shore up the national project last week against a surging far-right tide," Tisdall wrote. "In Germany, Italy and Hungary, much the same struggle against a reviving fascism is being fought (or conceded). So much so that Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, joined street protesters to urge resistance to the anti-migrant, Nazi-linked Alternative for Germany party. In the UK, alienation and an anachronistic voting system turn elections into charades."

Tisdall wrote that if Americans don't stand up for democracy in November, it could signal that "the liberal moment" has passed.

READ MORE: How the 'terror of autocracy' could make or break the 2024 election

"The fascist nightmare looms anew," he wrote. "Under darkly lowering skies, the post-democratic age dawns."

Read Tisdall's column in full by clicking here.