By Alan J. Steinberg

As we approach the midterm elections, the Nuremberg-like atmosphere of Donald Trump rallies plus his flagrant abuses of power terrify his critics. They raise the question: Is Donald Trump a fascist?



There are two matters of fact regarding Donald Trump that are irrefutable. The first is that he is not a conservative but is, in fact, the direct adversary of all the core beliefs of Ronald Reagan. The second is that in terms of his politics, that is to say, his methods of obtaining and maintaining power, Trump has been a practitioner of both fascistic strategy and tactics.



Ronald Reagan was a follower of Edmund Burke, who deemed the preservation and respect for institutions as essential for the preservation of orderly democratic government. Trump, the anti-Ronald Reagan is on a mission to destroy our leading institutions, including the independence of the FBI and the Justice Department and the very existence of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Reagan was a follower of Adam Smith, who believed in free markets and free trade. Donald Trump is a foe of free trade, an advocate of tariffs and a leader of trade wars.

Reagan was a strong advocate of freedom of the press and civil liberty in the marketplace of ideas, as advocated by John Locke and John Stuart Mill. Trump does everything possible to hinder freedom of the press, chiefly by encouraging and condoning violent attacks against journalists and labeling them as an "enemy of the people.

In determining whether Trump is fascistic either governmentally or politically, two books serve as excellent guidelines. For guidance as to what constitutes fascistic government, the best book is "Totalitarian Government & Autocracy," written by Carl J. Friedrich, my political theory professor at Northwestern, and Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor. As for a comprehensive guide to fascistic politics, the recently published book by Yale professor Jason Stanley, "How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them", is emerging as the authoritative work.

Friedrich and Brzezinski list six basic features of totalitarian regimes, of which fascism is the most prominent type in an era where Marxism has largely receded: an ideology, a single party led by one man, a terroristic police, a communications monopoly, a weapons monopoly, and a centrally directed economy. Trump certainly aspires to be an authoritarian leader. And he is attempting to get monopoly control of communications by his intimidation of journalists.

American institutions have thus far resisted Trump's attempts to gain authoritarian power. Yet in his attempt to do so, Trump is implementing the major political strategic and tactical practices of fascism. And as Jason Stanley has stated, the political practices of fascism, rather than any philosophy, constitute its ideology.

The major strategic practice of fascism is the credo of "us and them." With Trump, the "us" is white America, and the "them" is every nonwhite group, most notably African-Americans and Hispanic groupings.

Trump has a lifetime record of blatant bigotry against African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans. Examples abound: His leadership in the "birther" movement, his campaign for the death penalty against the Central Park Five even after their innocence was proven, his discrimination against African-Americans in the rental of his housing units in Brooklyn in the 1970s, his attempts to bar a distinguished American jurist, Gonzalo Curiel from presiding over the Trump University fraud case on the basis of his Mexican ancestry.

This solid record of bigotry enhances Trump's ability to communicate with his principal political ally: the white nationalist movement. Trump encounters one complication, however. The white nationalist movement is antisemitic to its core.

Trump is not an antisemite. Yet he will not jeopardize his alliance with white nationalism by rebuking it for its antisemitism. So he will remain deliberately apathetic to white nationalist antisemitism and use his support of Israel, which is hardly based on any idealistic concerns, as a shield against criticism of his inaction.

Trump is also a master at utilizing the tactics of fascist politics, as set forth by Jason Stanley, in support of his fascistic strategic goal. These tactics include creation of a mythical American past, a virulent anti-intellectualism which aims to dissuade American society from a healthy self-examination, and the seductive tool of demagogic propaganda, which is the essence of the Trump tweets.

The only check on Trump's relentless drive for autocratic power is our system of checks and balances and separation of powers. This is why I have left the Republican Party and urge the election of a Democratic House of Representatives and Senate.

Alan J. Steinberg served as regional administrator of Region 2 EPA during the administration of President George W. Bush and as executive director of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission under Gov. Christie Whitman.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.