Is Donald Trump a Fascist?

When it comes to a fascist politician, the image that likely comes to mind for many is of an angry and dangerous politician who shouts in his speeches and probably invites his supporters to violence and war. However, Donald Trump is not like that. He wears expensive suits, always tries to inject humor into his speeches to make his supporters laugh, and never misses an opportunity to flaunt his wealth. In his advertisements, there are no military uniforms, clenched fists, or stormy anger. But what has gradually become the refrain of criticism against him these days is: "Trump is a fascist." And those who call Trump a "fascist" are not leftist activists on Twitter or Occupy Wall Street activists. Even progressive and liberal journalists do not use this harsh description for this potential Republican candidate. Those trying to label Trump as a "fascist" include some of the most influential figures within the Republican Party! These are conservatives who have always avoided this description and usually do not call their opponents "fascists." One of the most important people who has recently called Trump a "fascist" is a neoconservative Republican named Max Boot, who currently serves as a military and foreign policy advisor in Marco Rubio's campaign and happens to be one of those right-wing thinkers who believes that America's global power is crucial for the comfort of today's world. He tweeted: "Trump is a fascist. And this is not a term I use lightly or often. But he deserves this term." Another conservative who recently used this term is John Noonan, national security advisor to Jeb Bush. He wrote: "Registering citizens across America based on their religious identity is fascism. No discussion needed!" Thus, the term "fascist" has gradually replaced the description of "racist," which was previously constantly repeated for Trump, and now many major websites and reputable newspapers in America have published articles about whether Trump is a fascist or not. If we consider "fascist" to be one of the worst political insults possible in today's world, Trump has come a long way to reach a point where he is attacked in this way. He started his campaign with controversial remarks about Mexicans who immigrate to America. Trump said that many of these immigrants are "rapists and criminals" who bring drugs and crime with them. On the very first day, he stated that if he becomes president, he will return all 11 million illegal immigrants in America to their countries and build a wall between America and Mexico. From that day, a group of commentators described his remarks as racist. Later, Trump made headlines with comments described as "anti-women." He implicitly suggested that a female Fox News host asked him tough questions because she was on her period. He also kicked out a supporter of the "Black Lives Matter" campaign from his speech. In response to recent attacks in Paris, he said that if he becomes president, he will create a database of all American Muslims and will issue special identification cards for Muslims in this country. He also stated that he would force Muslims to carry this identification card with them. Trump, who was under fire for these comments, claimed in an interview against Muslims, specifically "Arabs," that after the September 11 attacks, Arabs were celebrating in the streets of New Jersey! This time, many who called this statement a lie attacked him. However, Trump responded by saying he saw with his own eyes that "thousands and thousands" celebrated in the streets after the September 11 attacks. When the attacks intensified, he referred to a report from the Washington Post published after the September 11 attacks, in which a journalist named Serge Kovaleski wrote that after these attacks, the police arrested "a few people who were celebrating on the rooftops at the same time as the attacks." Trump read parts of this report as evidence of his claim in several speeches. However, Kovaleski (the author of the report), who now works for the New York Times, rejected Trump's claims and said that the arrest of "a few people" does not mean a street celebration of "thousands and thousands". Trump did not leave this journalist's response unanswered. But this time he did something that even some of his supporters on social media reacted negatively to. In his latest speech, Trump referred to Serge Kovaleski and said: "You should see this guy..." and then mocked him by waving his hands in the air in a ridiculous manner. In fact, Trump's reference was to the journalist's disability, as he cannot control his hands due to a chronic illness. In other words, Donald Trump mocked the disability of a critical journalist in front of television cameras while campaigning for the presidential nomination! Now the question is being repeated more rapidly in the media: Is Trump really a "fascist"? Someone who has harsh positions against foreigners, has made controversial comments against women, wants to completely separate and monitor Muslims in a discriminatory manner, and mocks the disability of a critical journalist, where does he fit in the American political arena? And what aligns in the Republican Party with what he says and wants? In less than 20 days, the next Republican debate will be held. And already the excitement of the next debate is tied to this harsh description against Trump. Will any of the candidates use the term "fascist" in the debate? If someone calls Trump a "fascist" in a heated exchange during the debate, will they gain or lose in the polls? These are questions that are likely occupying the minds of many campaign advisors for Republican candidates, and in the end, the one who wins will be the one who already has the correct answers to each of these questions and of course hundreds of other tough questions. Whether Trump is a "fascist" or not, he is currently leading in the polls and is considered the main contender for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election.