It’s no secret that the Republican Party in the United States has become more authoritarian and less tolerant of different people and viewpoints. With Donald Trump and now Ron DeSantis being potential presidential nominees for 2024, and characters like Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congress, the party seems like it’s on a path towards an “anything goes” approach to trying to “win” the culture war—enough that, more and more frequently, the party is being described as “fascist.” But is that accurate? What are the parameters that make a political movement fascist, outside of simply self-identifying as such? And which of those parameters do the current-day Republican Party meet?
Merriam-Webster defines fascism as “a political philosophy, movement, or regime … that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.” However, once you start getting into the weeds, fascism becomes much harder to define; in fact, the exact nature of fascism has been debated on for as long as the term has existed—specifically since 1915, when it was first used by Benito Mussolini to describe his own political project. However, there are a couple of definitions and descriptions that both resonate with me, as they relate to where the Republican Party is headed.
The first is laid out by Umberto Eco, who laid out fourteen different properties of fascist ideology; only one of these properties has to be present for a fascistic movement to coalesce around it. Of these different properties, I’ve observed several that are prominent among the general population of Republicans in the US, which include:
A rejection of modernism (the belief that modern society is descending into moral/cultural depravity);
A fear of difference—in this case, a fear of queer people and immigrants;
An obsession with a plot—the belief that wokeness is infiltrating our schools and cultural institutions, as well as the belief that the 2020 election was purposefully rigged to favor Joe Biden;
Machismo (in this case, an intolerance of nonstandard sexual orientations and gender identities, and arguably misogyny too);
And selective populism (In this case, the belief that Trump represented the will of the people, and delegitimizing democratic institutions because, as Trump lost, they supposedly no longer represent the voice of the people).
Does any of this ring any bells? If so, then if we accept Eco’s definition of fascism, then there’s a strong case to be made that the Republican Party is well on its way to becoming a fascist party, if it’s not there already.
The other definition of fascism that jumped out at me was laid out by Francisco Franco, a Spanish military general and leader in the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War, who became Spain’s dictator from 1939 to 1975. When interviewed in 1938, Franco described his movement thusly:
“Fascism presents, wherever it manifests itself, characteristics which are varied to the extent that countries and national temperaments vary. It is essentially a defensive reaction of the organism, a manifestation of the desire to live, of the desire not to die, which at certain times seizes a whole people. So each people reacts in its own way, according to its conception of life.”
Essentially, according to this self-described fascist, fascism is a collective social and national reaction against a perceived threat. Wherever they come up, fascist movements see themselves as defending against something that’s seeking to destroy them. And from all that I’ve seen, the Republican Party, and many of its members, see themselves as being on the defensive against social and cultural trends (a greater acceptance of queer people, diversity in cultural institutions, awareness of social injustice and privilege, etc.) that will destroy their way of life unless they’re not only opposed, but wiped out in their totality.1
It’s important to note that I’m referring to the Republican Party as a socio-political unit when I say that it’s becoming fascistic; individual Republicans likely don’t identify as fascist. Thus, simply throwing the term at such individuals is going to be fruitless and counterproductive, as they would likely be (understandably) outraged at the accusation; plus, it further dilutes the meaning of the term. If you want any chance of convincing your conservative uncle, friend, or coworker that the Republican Party is becoming fascistic, you’ll have to (1) ask them what their definition of fascism is, and (2) point out how the Republican Party meets that definition. Given the rotten state of discourse in America today, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to convince them through your words alone. They’ll have to live through a fascist time—and be negatively affected by it on a personal level—to realize their folly.
Sinclair Lewis is often quoted as saying that when fascism came to America, it would be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. Republicans in recent memory are well-known for proudly doing both, so the quote, whether Lewis said it or not, has become extremely relevant today. The best thing that concerned citizens can and should do is strengthen and protect America’s core institutions—including, ironically, free speech—in whatever ways they’re able. You can think whatever you want about any of the socio-cultural trends that have been cropping up over the past decade. But nothing—nothing—is worth the extremes that Republicans are going to in reaction to those trends. The only way to “win” the culture war, whichever side of it you’re on, is to simply live your own life according to your own values, and to not impose those values on your fellow citizen. Anything more than that puts you on the road to tyranny.
Is it possible that some of those trends are genuinely bad for society? Of course! I wrote a whole article criticizing cancel culture, for example, which I see as a very real, negative trend that I think liberals and progressives are more complacent about than they should be. That being said though, cancel culture isn’t nearly on the same level as fascism.