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Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world
(noun) A political ideology — once thought to be dead — that seems to be undergoing a global revival
The 2024 US election was unusual because it featured a lively debate about whether one of the candidates was a fascist. General John Kelly, who served as Trump’s chief of staff during his first term, ignited the debate by telling reporters that his former boss matched a dictionary definition of fascism that he had found online: “a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology . . . characterised by a dictatorial leader, centralised autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy.”
The Trump campaign responded to this accusation by saying that Kelly had “beclowned himself” and repeated false accusations. Some of Trump’s more sophisticated defenders argued that the charge is misplaced because Trump is not a militarist. Indeed, the incoming president campaigned as the pro-peace candidate and promised to end forever wars.
The Harris campaign nonetheless seized upon Kelly’s accusation. The Democrats clearly believed that Americans would surely reject any candidate tainted by fascism. But they may have overestimated the depth of the average voter’s historical knowledge. Reporters on the campaign trail found that most voters associated fascism with Hitler — and Hitler with the Holocaust. Since no one believed that Trump was planning to build an American Auschwitz, it was relatively easy for the Republican party to dismiss accusations of fascism as liberal hysteria.
Historians of the 1930s, however, do believe that Trump and some other world leaders — such as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping — are reviving aspects of the fascist tradition. Ultra-nationalism, the cult of the leader and contempt for liberal values are back in fashion around the world — not just in America.
gideon.rachman@ft.com
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