Historical context of fascism in America and the 2024 presidential race

As 2024 presidential candidates increasingly speak out, fighting an uphill battle to convince voters to put one or the other in the White House for the next term, the term fascist has begun to be used.

But does this word fit? Especially in the case of Donald Trump, his policies and the ways he governs and uses his power.

Just this week, Vice President Kamala Harris she said she believed Trump is a fascist after his longest-serving former chief of staff John Kelly said the former president praised Adolf Hitler during his time in office.

This accusation and claim gave Harris’ campaign some energy, using strong words to convince specific groups of voters not to vote for the former president.

Back in the 1930s, the 32nd US president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was called a fascist.

Jeffrey Engel David Gergen, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, provided historical context for the term and its use in American political discourse.

Engel says fascist is “a scary and nebulous word. The word fascist at this point has been so watered down from its definition in political science that it has simply become a synonym for someone you don’t like. You can call him a tyrant, you can call them autocrats, you can call them communists, you can call them socialists.”