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Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world
(noun) Political opinion – at one time he was thought to be dead – that seems to be in a state of global revival
The 2024 US election was unusual in that it produced a lively debate about whether one of the candidates was a fraud. General John Kelly, who served as Trump’s chief of staff during his first term, sparked the debate by telling reporters that his former chief of staff was like the textbook definition of fascism he found on the Internet: “a right-wing, authoritarian, ultranationalist ideology . . . characterized by a dictatorial leader, a centralized dictatorship, a military, violent suppression of opposition, believe in public authorities.”
The Trump campaign responded to the allegation by saying Kelly had “revealed” and repeated the false allegations. Some of Trump’s staunch defenders argued that the charge is false because Trump is not a military man. Of course, the incoming president campaigned to be an ambassador of peace and promised to end the endless wars.
However, the Harris campaign seized on Kelly’s accusation. The Democrats clearly believed that Americans would reject any candidate tainted by fascism. But they may have underestimated the depth of the average voter’s historical knowledge. Journalists on the campaign trail found that most voters associated fascism with Hitler – and Hitler with the Holocaust. Since no one believed that Trump was planning to build an American Auschwitz, it was relatively easy for the Republican party to dismiss the accusations of fascism as liberal hysteria.
However, historians of the 1930s believe that Trump and other world leaders – such as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping – are reviving elements of the fascist tradition. Ultra-nationalism, leader worship and contempt for liberal values are back in fashion around the world – not just America.