Early Warning Signs of Fascism: Is Fascism Coming to the U.S.?

Photo by Spenser H on Unsplash

It’s difficult to deny that Trump’s presidency caused interminable damage to the democracy of the United States. His most recent, and most horrendous, act that eroded the foundation of our democracy was his denial of the 2020 election results and his rallying of supporters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6th. Even now as we face the midterm elections, several republican candidates have denied committing to the results of their 2022 elections.

Trump and his supporters make the argument that the 2020 election was fraudulent, and therefore you can’t trust future elections (unless, of course, their candidate wins). Whether they are delusional enough to believe this given the countless investigations into the 2020 election or they are simply using this as a way to appeal to voters who also believe the election was stolen, I’m not sure. However, the last select committee to investigate Jan. 6th seems to support the latter (they were preparing to overturn the election as early as October).

Regardless, they are building distrust in the election system, the consequences of which could set the stage for a genuinely fraudulent election. Furthermore, as the far-right becomes more extreme and more nationalist, a fraudulent election could be exactly what they need to transition to full-blown fascism.