Fascism has been given several related, but different, definitions since the far-right political philosophy was established by Benito Mussolini (on the left of Adolf Hitler in the photo above). Fascism has been difficult to define for a few reasons:

• It’s a relatively new concept
  • Monarchies have been around since Ancient Egypt and the first democracy came from Ancient Athens, but fascism began a little more than 100 years ago, around the same time the Band-Aid® was invented.
• No central theory
  • Fascism is a reactionary ideology that encourages a movement back to a previous, more conservative time (e.g. Make America Great Again). Given this characteristic, it can morph based on the country or the progressive policies it is trying to replace. For example, fascism took different forms in Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany. We are seeing it play out in yet another way in Trump’s America.
• Propaganda
  • In 1946, George Orwell wrote that “Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable’” as it was being “abused” and “used in a consciously dishonest way.” We’ve seen the right do the same with the words “woke” and “critical race theory.” A definition of fascism is hard to nail down because the word is being misused to purposefully cause confusion and detract from the fascists themselves.

Given the ambiguous nature of the term, Fascism Fighters will use a comprehensive list of characteristics that many fascist regimes have in common to ultimately define the word and reveal the true, fascist nature of Donald Trump.