“They say I’m Hitler. I am the opposite of a
Nazi.” From rumors about Haitians eating dogs and cats to rally jokes
about Puerto Ricans, it’s hard to say the Republican candidate’s campaign has
dispelled any misunderstandings, nor has it really tried. On the contrary, it
has played with the full range of dubious sentiments and populist emotions.
Isn’t white male discontent the raison d’être of Trumpism?
While Donald Trump loves to paint himself as the victim,
his opponents have ample ammunition to depict him as the worst of demons. Among
many examples, consider his recent remarks about Xi Jinping, the most
authoritarian Chinese leader since the dark days of Maoism: “A brilliant
guy,” Trump opined. “He controls 1.4 billion people with an iron
fist.” His admiration for dictators is no secret. There’s reason to fear
that a second Trump term, surrounded by an even more submissive entourage, could
bring a wave of revenge and transgressions. The march of his supporters on the
Capitol after his defeat four years ago already had all the signs of an
attempted coup. Disorganized, perhaps. But next time?
Many who worked with him behind the closed doors
of the White House have now expressed grave concerns. According to John F. Kelly, a
former Marine general and his former chief of staff, if fascism is defined as “a
far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement,
characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism,
forced suppression of opposition, and belief in a natural social
hierarchy,” then, yes, “Trump is certainly a fascist.” Should we
take this accusation lightly?
Concerns for the future of American democracy are
widespread—and not only from the far right. Neo-puritanism on the left, in the
form of cancel culture, also has troubling characteristics. Trumpism draws much
of its strength, perhaps even its raison d’être, from this mirror game where
intolerance from one side fuels fanaticism on the other. Democracy only works
as long as opponents are not turned into enemies to be crushed.
How far off seems the era when people prophesied “the end of history” with the universal triumph of liberal democracy!
Few foresaw—perhaps only St. John Paul II—that the system that had just overcome
communism would soon face its own moral turbulence. Military coups in Africa,
the “holy alliance” of Russian, Chinese, North Korean, and Iranian
dictators, “illiberal democracy” following the Hungarian or Turkish
models… To this troubling list, add “gray” tools for surveillance,
control, and manipulation of public opinion. These tools are being refined with
technological progress even as public attachment to freedoms declines.
Trump is merely another name for an existential
crisis. Can this be resisted? The answer falling to a few thousand voters in
Pennsylvania or North Carolina is hardly reassuring, even though American civil
society still has powerful mechanisms in place.
Jean-Pierre Denis, a veteran journalist
and editor, is the publisher of La Croix International.
This post was originally published on here
