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President Crusty Cheeto Fits Every Single Characteristic of Fascism

byRuth Anderson
February 26, 2017

It’s been well discussed that President Donald J. Trump has pandered and catered to the increasing number of Americans that are participating in racist and misogynistic behavior, and it has been mentioned that how The Crusty Cheeto came to power was extremely similar to how Hitler rose to the immense power he had in Germany in 1933, but the clear implications of how Trump fits the mould for the 14 characteristics of fascism has seemingly never been commented on. This is strange considering the uprise in neo-nationalism that has occurred in the 6 weeks since Trump was sworn in as President.

In Spring of 2003, Dr. Lawrence Britt analyzed the fascist regimes that occurred throughout modern history such as Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto and several other regimes in Latin America and came out with 14 defined characteristics and signs of a new fascist regime that could occur to prevent such campaigns from becoming popular among the general public ever again. And guess what? President Trump’s campaign and behavior as President fits every single one.

  • Powerful and Continuing Nationalism – these fascist regimes often continue to use patriotic slogans, songs and symbols and flags are everywhere in the environment as they often placed on items of clothing and in public displays in public spaces.

Sound familiar? America, on the whole, is a very patriotic country. With flags lining the streets and with children pledging to the flag every morning, it can be compared to the indoctrination German children experienced while in schools and other governmental institutes like Hitler Youth and BDM. Hitler Youth trained young boys to focus on what was deemed necessary, like learning to shoot a rifle, physical education and other military training. BDM (standing for Bund Deutscher Mädel) was compulsory for young girls who learned only domestic values, such as cooking and cleaning and how to bear children. If “Make America Great Again” isn’t an example of continuing nationalism, I don’t know what is.  

  • Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights – Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ogdgddvqG4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nLvjk47sDo

Trump has violated and disrespected the rights of many people in his time campaigning for Presidency and sitting as active President and these videos speak for themselves.

  • Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause – The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

If the months upon months of campaigning and the recently opposed travel ban on certain countries does not prove that Donald Trump and his supporters’ foundations are built on blaming everyone but themselves and idolizing the racist values that have plagued history, I don’t know how else you are able to converse with someone. Trump and his supporters have belittled and ridiculed the ethnic background and cultural differences, that so many different Americans experience/practice, by making lewd and racist comments about people of the Islamic faith, people of Mexican descent or nationality, refugees from elsewhere or anyone who does not fit what he and his supporters deem worthy which is almost always; straight, white and Republican.

  • Supremacy of the Military – Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department, or ICE for short, was granted special access for “raids” to deport illegal immigrants living in the United States. They were able to destroy homes and treat these people like animals without any rights, so much so that activists and other protesters had to make posters for people living illegally to make sure they knew what rights they had during these raids.

  • Rampant Sexism – The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated.

Donald Trump’s cabinet is the most white and male one since Ronald Reagan. That is all.

  • Controlled Mass Media – Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation

As of Feb. 25, 2017, 3 major news channels were banned from reporting at The White House. CNN, the New York Times and the BBC were all part of the few broadcasters that were banned from reporting in the President’s home, never before had certain media organizations been excluded in this way. The ban came swiftly after Trump went on another rant about the media preaching ‘fake news’ to the general public in order to sway their opinions in whatever way they pleased.

This technique of controlling the media has been used many times, for example by Hitler. On October 4th, 1933, The Reich Press Law was passed, stating that all newspapers had to be ‘radically clean‘ meaning that all Jewish reporters, editors or businesses were sacked or shut down. Throughout this period of time, Hitler and the Nazi Party censored everything within the media, making it seem that all was perfect in Germany while really excluding the German people from the outside world, something that is seemingly repeating itself.

  • Obsession with National Security – Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

In today’s modern history, we have witnessed the power of what nuclear weapons are capable of and the majority of people living in developed countries are scared of the destruction that could outbreak from a nuclear war. Nuclear capability is a topic that is rampantly discussed within Politics today, a topic that is delicately talked about as to not disrespect the tragedy that has been caused by these bombs in the past. Trump has negated this option, and has made light of the fears that citizens have across the US and the world have by saying that the US needs to expand its capabilities and I quote: “you know what uranium is, right? It’s this thing called nuclear weapons. And other things. Like lots of things are done with uranium. Including some bad things.”

  • Religion and Government are Intertwined – Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion.

It is without a doubt that the Trump supporters who are religious (which is a large majority and usually Christian) hold him to an extremely high degree when he is the opposite of the basic foundations of any religion; tolerance, peace and love. Trump, even in his Inauguration speech, referenced religion and the Christian God, saying to pander to his audience of religious followers and trying to convince those not in favor of him that God is fueling his desire to be the President instead of his own agendas.

  • Corporate Power is Protected – The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

13 of the main positions in Trump’s cabinet were made up of people in corporate power, automatically discounting his vehement promises to his supporters that he will rid the White House and the system of the establishment so many Americans hate. His cabinet (some of which have refused his nominations or resigned) have been part of banks or corporate law firms, the very people taking money from the people who need it most. Betsy DeVos, for example, is the nation’s education secretary despite having no experience with the public school system and sending her children to private schools but was put in the position purely for her expertise as a billionaire scion.

  • Labor Power is Suppressed – Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely or are severely suppressed.

Trump has also signed an executive order demanding that International Planned Parenthood is to be defunded, removing life-saving medical treatment for women and denying women the rights to decide over their body. These types of orders removing and stripping the rights and protections of people will be continuous amidst the chaos of Trump’s reign as President and won’t stop unless we the people stand up and resist rather than waiting for someone else to create change for us.

We need to get rid of the mentality that there is always going to be someone else there to save us or commit to change. In uncertain times like these it is vital that instead of being a bystander to all of the commotions, you need to be the voice of change and freedom to help change the lives of so many people.

  • Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts – Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia.

Trump has proudly stated that he has never read a book before and that it is a waste of time which could be used for other things, stating that he already had the business skills to continue with his life and didn’t need to expand his knowledge further. This type of mentality is dangerous, as already 1.2 million students in the U.S. drop out of high school every year which roughly works out to one every 26 seconds. To say that further education is wrong or dismiss it in the way he has, is encouraging bigotry and intolerance, but that is his foundation for his philosophies.

  • Obsession with Crime and Punishment – Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws.

Trump has consistently made up false claims in relation to crime rampant in the US and in the world. Recently, he made a statement claiming that Sweden had a migrant crisis that never happened, confusing the nation in question. Throughout his campaign, he has made false and empty claims such as these to confuse and blind everyone around him; the media, his followers and the world watching.

  • Rampant Cronyism and Corruption – Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability.

Once again, Trump has surrounded himself with corporate elites within his cabinet and refuses to accept responsibility for the millions of lives affected by a government made up of people With no other qualification other than the money in their bank accounts. The fact that Trump and so many of his cabinet are rich with money all over the world makes it complicated to keep track of all their conflicts of interests. Especially, since Trump refuses to release his tax returns.

    •  Fraudulent Elections – Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham.

Author
Ruth Anderson
Ruth Anderson is a fourteen year old activist, born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is far too obsessed with musicals and binge watching tv shows on Netflix for her own good while being inspired by other activists like Rowan Blanchard and Yara Shahidi.

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