What is fascism?

By WILL WEISSERT and LAURIE KELLMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Kamala Harris he was asked this week if she believed Donald Trump she was a fascist and she replied, “Yes, yes.” She later called him the same, saying voters don’t want “a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist.”

But what exactly is a fascist? And does the meaning of the word change when viewed through a historical or political lens—especially so close to the end of a packed presidential race?

Here’s a closer look:

What is fascism?

An authoritarian, ultra-nationalist ideology and political movement. It is often associated with the far right and characterized by a dictatorial leader who uses military force to help suppress political and civil opposition.

The two most famous fascists in history were Nazi leader Adolf Hitler of Germany and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Known as Il Duce, or “the Duke”, Mussolini led the National Fascist Party, which was symbolized by an eagle clutching a fasce – a bundle of rods with an ax between them.

At Mussolini’s urging, in October 1922, thousands of “black shirts” or “squadristi” formed an armed fascist militia that marched on Rome, vowing to seize power. Similarly, Hitler’s Nazis relied on a militia known as the “Brown Shirts”. Both men eventually imposed the one-party regime and encouraged violence in the streets. They used soldiers but also spurred civil unrest that pits loyalists against political opponents and larger parts of everyday society.

Hitler and Mussolini censored the press and issued sophisticated propaganda. They played on racist fears and manipulated not only their activist supporters but ordinary citizens as well.

Today, the term fascism has taken on a looser political definition and is often invoked as a catchall for efforts to spread oppression and racism—as well as to denigrate dictators or leaders who embrace totalitarian tactics.

It’s not just the left that has used the term, denouncing a push to the right in the US and many parts of the world. Some conservatives denounced the blockages imposed in time coronavirus pandemic as “fascist”.

What are other historical examples of fascism?

Hitler and Mussolini are its biggest names, but it gets murkier from there.

Does military dictator Augusto Pinochet’s 17-year rule in Chile qualify? How about the Indonesian strongman Suharto or Francisco Franco from Spain? Were the regimes of Ferenc Szálasi in Hungary and Plínio Salgado in Brazil fascist? Where does American neo-Nazi leader David Duke fit in?

Indeed, critics sometimes describe modern extremist groups in the US – including movements that have cheered Trumpthat Proud boys — as fascists or neo-fascists. These labels may be deeper in political ideology than clear historical parallels.

Why is Harris calling Trump a fascist?

The vice president has long criticized Trump as mentally unstable and not a true believer or defender of the nation’s founding democratic principles.

She notes that Trump has hinted that he would deploy the army to target political opponents, including people he condemned as the “enemy within”. The former president has long talked about attacking his enemies and he told his supporters that he will be their “revenge.”

“He’s talking about the American people. Talk about nonpartisan journalists, judges, election officials,” Harris said at a CNN town hall Wednesday night.