A Belief System That Once Laid the Groundwork for Fascism
With the hope of alarming these voters, commentators and politicians have accused Trump of sounding like a fascist. But despite the parallels between Trump’s proposals for registering Muslim citizens and his racist statements about Mexicans with the ideas of Nazism, most of his supporters would not think Trump is a fascist.
For them, he represents anti-politics: their idea is that Trump transcends politics as usual. They support his statements not only for their contents but also because of their populist style. Trump’s followers believe in his self-presentation as a lonely hero of the people that is fighting the political elite.
.. The true fascist leader did not have to explain his policies: he was a man of action who could do no wrong. He was followed because he was believed to represent what an entire people wanted. Most voters often supported fascists despite their most extreme views because they believed in their talk of order, economic improvement and national uniformity.
.. Surely, Trump voters would not identify with fascism but they share with the early supporters of fascism a deep suspicious of the other, of people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. Trump’s followers want a country that looks, believes, talks, eats and drinks the same. They want to go back to a country without diversity that never existed except in the reactionary images of the past.