Those who call President Trump fascist continue to demonstrate they either do not understand the word, or aren’t paying attention.
The news is coming fast and furious from Washington, D.C. On Wednesday, the Department of Justice appointed former FBI Chief Robert Mueller to investigate possible Russian interference in the election and “directly related” matters. On top of sustained calls for impeachment and the seeming scandal of the day coming from the White House, this increases tension in Washington. But taking a step back, we might consider how many of the Democrats’ worst fears have been largely overblown, as Trump has acted like a President and not the fascist that many liberals like to identify him as.
For Trump haters, there is little that can be said in favor of Trump, but when a dispassionate analyst assesses the claims of Trump’s percipient fascism, it is proven that he is actually far from it. During the early days of his office, he did what President Obama bragged about: Trump worked “his phone and his pen.” Trump signed many executive orders, such as re-instituting the Mexico Policy, overturning Obama era executive orders, and implementing a travel ban.
When judges blocked the latter item, Trump didn’t arrest the judiciary or violent liberal protestors, or take any other actions that accompany a dictator, whereas comedian Dave Berry joked that votes are counted by a number of armed men employed by each side. The Trump team went back to the drawing board and implemented a much lighter ban that took into account many criticisms.
Trump also used a legal provision and congressional allies to roll back even more Obama rules and regulations. Again, this behavior would be rather strange for a budding fascist, but working with a democratically-elected congress speaks to Trump’s leadership skills. Those skills came up short when Washington tried to pass the first health care bill, but after some political posturing against the Freedom Caucus, he negotiated with congressional leaders to produce a successful compromise for the bill.
Again, threatening electoral consequences is far different than threats of physical violence, and pursuing intense negotiations that leads to a compromised bill suggests that Trump is relying on the tools of a democratic statesmen and not advancing some dictatorial conspiracy.
This week also brought the news of a special investigator, something that the dictators of the 20th century would never allow. Trump might be guilty of mistakes and maybe even actual crimes. As I said previously, it’s important to reserve judgment until more information comes out, and now there is a specific investigator with popular support who will help get to the bottom of things.
But Trump is not guilty of being fascist. That falsehood is a favorite talking point of the left, along with accusations of war mongering cowboys and dense leaders. Moving forward, it’s important to remember that whatever mistakes Trump might make, a sober assessment of his actions compared with those of real fascists and dictators throughout history exposes the emptiness of the left’s rhetoric.
