Trump's 5-Step Fascist Plan
Most of my life, I wouldn't listen to Robert Reich. But the extremism of the Right has pushed the Left and Center (i.e. me) into a tighter alliance. I'll never agree with him on economic policy and government regulation, but I find little to disagree with here:
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/trumps-5-step-fascist-plan
Step 1: Use threats of violence to gain power.
Hitler and Mussolini relied on their vigilante militias to intimidate voters and local officials. We watched Trump try to do the same in 2020. Even before he incited the attack on the U.S. Capitol, he said on national television: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”
Step 2: Consolidate power.
After taking office, a would-be fascist turns every arm of government into a tool of his will. One of Hitler’s first steps was to take over the civil service, purging it of non-Nazis.
In October of 2020, Trump issued his own executive order that would have enabled him to fire tens of thousands of civil servants and replace them with MAGA loyalists. He never got to act on it, but he’s now promising to apply it to the entire civil service if reelected.
Step 3: Demonize a group of people and establish a police state to round them up into detention camps.
Hitler used the imaginary threat of “the poison of foreign races” — mostly Jews — to justify taking control of the military and police, placing both under his top general, and granting law-enforcement powers to his civilian militias.
Now Trump is using the same language to claim he needs similar powers to deal with immigrants. Trump says they’re “poisoning the blood of our country.”
Step 4: Jail the opposition.
As Putin and other of the world’s dictators do, Trump is now openly threatening to prosecute his opponents: “If I happen to be president and I see somebody who’s doing well and beating me very badly, I say, ‘Go down and indict them.’ They’d be out of business.”
He’s looking to remake the Justice Department into a tool for his personal vendettas: “As we completely overhaul the federal Department of Justice and FBI, we will also launch sweeping civil rights investigations into Marxist local district attorneys.”
In the model of Hitler and Mussolini, Trump describes his opponents as subhuman: “the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country…”
[Ed. When Trump said to Clinton, 'You'll be in jail' on the debate stage, I instantly knew he was a proto-dictator and I turned against him FOR LIFE. Sometimes, it only takes one slip for someone to reveal exactly who and what they are.]
Step 5: Undermine the free press.
As Hitler well understood, a fascist dictator needs to control the flow of information. Trump has been attacking the press for years, calling them “the enemy of the people.”
He’s threatening to punish news outlets whose coverage he dislikes. On his “Truth Social” platform, he wrote: “Our so-called ‘government’ should come down hard on them and make them pay for their illegal political activity. Much more to come, watch!”
He has helped to reduce trust in the media to such a historic low that his supporters now view him as their most trusted source of information. He tells them: “I will never lie to you,” although his lies are constant and continuous.
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/trumps-5-step-fascist-plan
Step 1: Use threats of violence to gain power.
Hitler and Mussolini relied on their vigilante militias to intimidate voters and local officials. We watched Trump try to do the same in 2020. Even before he incited the attack on the U.S. Capitol, he said on national television: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”
Step 2: Consolidate power.
After taking office, a would-be fascist turns every arm of government into a tool of his will. One of Hitler’s first steps was to take over the civil service, purging it of non-Nazis.
In October of 2020, Trump issued his own executive order that would have enabled him to fire tens of thousands of civil servants and replace them with MAGA loyalists. He never got to act on it, but he’s now promising to apply it to the entire civil service if reelected.
Step 3: Demonize a group of people and establish a police state to round them up into detention camps.
Hitler used the imaginary threat of “the poison of foreign races” — mostly Jews — to justify taking control of the military and police, placing both under his top general, and granting law-enforcement powers to his civilian militias.
Now Trump is using the same language to claim he needs similar powers to deal with immigrants. Trump says they’re “poisoning the blood of our country.”
Step 4: Jail the opposition.
As Putin and other of the world’s dictators do, Trump is now openly threatening to prosecute his opponents: “If I happen to be president and I see somebody who’s doing well and beating me very badly, I say, ‘Go down and indict them.’ They’d be out of business.”
He’s looking to remake the Justice Department into a tool for his personal vendettas: “As we completely overhaul the federal Department of Justice and FBI, we will also launch sweeping civil rights investigations into Marxist local district attorneys.”
In the model of Hitler and Mussolini, Trump describes his opponents as subhuman: “the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country…”
[Ed. When Trump said to Clinton, 'You'll be in jail' on the debate stage, I instantly knew he was a proto-dictator and I turned against him FOR LIFE. Sometimes, it only takes one slip for someone to reveal exactly who and what they are.]
Step 5: Undermine the free press.
As Hitler well understood, a fascist dictator needs to control the flow of information. Trump has been attacking the press for years, calling them “the enemy of the people.”
He’s threatening to punish news outlets whose coverage he dislikes. On his “Truth Social” platform, he wrote: “Our so-called ‘government’ should come down hard on them and make them pay for their illegal political activity. Much more to come, watch!”
He has helped to reduce trust in the media to such a historic low that his supporters now view him as their most trusted source of information. He tells them: “I will never lie to you,” although his lies are constant and continuous.
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