Max Boot, John Noonan, and Steve Deace—surrogates for Marco Rubio, Jeb! Bush, and Ted Cruz, respectively—are worried enough about Donald Trump’s enduring poll lead that they’ve embraced the notion, propounded by liberals, that Trump is a fascist.

At least, on Twitter they have.

Trump is a fascist. And that's not a term I use loosely or often. But he's earned it. https://t.co/KSfADd5Ycq — Max Boot (@MaxBoot) November 22, 2015

Forced federal registration of US citizens, based on religious identity, is fasicm. Period. Nothing else to call it. https://t.co/XYee8dEgJr — John Noonan (@noonanjo) November 20, 2015

If Obama proposed the same religion registry as Trump every conservative in the country would call it what it is -- creeping fascism. — Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) November 20, 2015

Using a surrogate to do your dirty works is as old as politics, but it’s usually a sign that the principal doesn’t want to be associated with the attack itself. Bush will attack Trump in other ways. Rubio won’t criticize him directly at all, and Cruz calls himself “a big [Trump] fan.” But none of them will call him a fascist. To avoid offending his pro-fascist fans, they must remain fasco-curious. H/T CNN

