The Hackensack Review

I’ve been calling Donald Trump a fascist for the better part of 5 months when he agreed with the idea that Muslims should be registered with the federal government and, to make things worse, a proposing ban of Muslims from entering the United States. Ever since then I have had to explain why I call Trump a fascist, and for good reason. Accusing someone, or a group of people, of being fascists shouldn’t be done lightly. If I disagree with a Conservative, the last thing I’d call that person is a fascist. But now the question is, why do I call Trump a fascist when other conservatives have supported the blatantly racist rhetoric towards Muslims and other immigrants in the past? Because given the totality of his campaign, ever since June 16th, 2015, it has been nothing short of an appeal to the most authoritarian sentiments of the far right in American politics. 

It isn’t just Donald Trump’s Muslim ban that makes him a fascist, but also his open support of deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants without due process of law. To make things worse, Trump openly supports torture as a means to combating terrorism, even if the use of such tactics doesn’t reveal any actionable intelligence necessary to thwart a terrorist attack. Trump has also floated the idea of ordering the military to murder the family members of terrorists either caught on the battlefield or who have successfully carried out a terrorist attack. It’s one thing to punish terrorists who murder innocent people, it’s quite another thing to openly say that innocent people should be murdered by America’s armed forces because of their familial relationship to terrorists. 

These examples suggest that Trump is a fascist especially when he glorifies an atavistic vision of America not being subjected to “raped” by foreigners, and an America that wins (whatever the hell that means). Fascists throughout history have made it their mission to rescue their declining countries from the “other,” whether it’s an immigrant group, or a religious minority like Jews, who, in the mind of the fascists, is actively working to tear down what was once a "great nation." The fascists in turn also say they have all the answers for the ills affecting their countries, no matter how unrealistic these solutions are. For Trump, the Chinese, the Mexicans and Muslims represent that “other,” people who don’t care about America and want to see it torn down; while the wall, the deportation of 11 million immigrants, and the “renegotiation” of trade deals with China and others, are the cure for America’s illness, even when such policies are clearly unrealistic and would cost America more than the supposed illness.

Don’t let the conservative media tell you–nor the professional conservative bloggers like Eric Erickson–that Donald Trump isn't a conservative. Since launching his now crashing campaign for the Presidency, Mr. Trump has embraced the issues that animate (or have “touched a nerve” to put it in punditry terms) with the always angry, white, Conservative voter. So it’s a bit puzzling to now hear the self appointed leaders of the American conservative movement express doubts about Mr. Trump’s “conservatism.”

On Thursday night’s Republican debate, it was clear to most observers that Megyn Kelly of Fox News would bring up Trump’s past disparaging comments about women the strangely oranged haired buffoon has made in the past. Clearly disqualifying, these comments show Trump to be inherently unfit for the presidency. NBC News brought this up during their interview with Trump; so did CNN. So why would Megyn Kelly be any different? Apparently that question touched a raw nerve (ironic) with Donald Trump, who, after the debate, took to twitter to say that Kelly bombed as moderator and, worse, accused her of having blood coming out of her eyes and out of her “wherever.”

Apparently, for the conservative media at least, this is too much to take. Forget his racist and disparaging comments towards Mexicans during his campaign launch; forget his past racist comments towards blacks, Hispanics, and his history of sexist comments directed at other women (not named Megyn Kelly), it was his  attack on the queen of Conservative media that is a no-no in the world of Eric Erickson and Red State, et al.

So it’s puzzling to now hear Erickson, and other conservatives for that matter, not only to come out and criticize Trump’s disgusting remarks against Kelly, (especially ironic given Erickson’s own history of sexist remarks against women ) but also come out and question Mr. Trump’s conservatism. And now the conservative media is now promoting a pretty ridiculous conspiracy theory, on the level of birtherism, that states Mr. Trump is only running for President as a way to help Hillary Clinton win the general election.

This could be signs of desperation by establishment Conservatives, or a real angst against Mr. Trump that goes way back before his presidential campaign. Either way, establishment conservatives now have two problems: how will they deal with Trump going forward; and how will they distance themselves from their own creation.

Make no mistake about this, Donald Trump is very popular with conservative voters. His thoughts, his ideas, his views about President Obama are very much in line with the typical angry conservative voter. There is nothing Donald Trump has said in the past 6 years in which mainstream conservatives haven’t thought of, written, or said out loud.  So if establishment conservatives derail his run for the GOP nomination, there is really nothing to stop Trump from launching an independent campaign, one that will certainly pull votes away from the Republican party in the general election and help elect Hillary Clinton. 

Moreover, how is Trump any different from any typical American conservative?

Trump is the quintessential conservative created by the conservative movement and media over the past 8 years. He exemplifies its virtues of ignorance, bigotry against minorities, and retrograde social thinking. Even worse, Trump exhibits a narrow minded nativism in which America is under the constant threat of the unknown foreigner, whether it’s a Mexican, a Chinese, or any other person not from America. As he said during the debate, if it wasn’t for his racist remarks towards Mexicans the other 16 contenders wouldn’t be talking about illegal immigration (probably false, but you get the idea).  It would then take a miracle for Conservatives to say and explain that Donald Trump in no way represents what their movement is about.