It's not much of a "closing argument." In fact, it's weak and pathetic.
Many Americans have serious problems with Donald Trump. Many are still going to vote for him. Many others won't.
But there's no indication that the voters are going to accept or reject Trump based on the Democratic charge that he's a fascist.
There's simply no "there," there. But even a fine writer like Will Saletan has swallowed the "Trump is a fascist" kool-aid.
"Let’s Be Honest, Trump’s Running As a Fascist," writes Saletan in The Bulwark. The writer lists 18 (yes, 18) reasons why Trump is a fascist.
When Trump runs off at the mouth, claiming he will "'indemnify' the police against any prosecutions for actions undertaken as part of his planned mass deportations," Saletan fails to relate how Trump will accomplish that. Does Saletan believe that a president is omnipotent? Does he believe that any executive action taken by Trump to deport 11 million illegals won't be challenged in court?
Saletan, like many who refer to Trump as a "fascist," has absolutely no faith in America, her people, or the law. Trump says a lot of stuff about him being "immune" from the law and about unleashing the police or the military on the "enemies within," but Trump never gives details about how that would come to pass.
And neither does Saletan.
The problem with using the "fascist" label as a political attack is that very few people have their minds changed about Donald Trump because Democrats call him a fascist.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board — not exactly Trump cheerleaders — defines fascism for the ignorant Democrats who have had to twist the definition into a pretzel in order to make a vague political point.
Fascism historically was “national socialism”—government control over much of the economy. By that definition, Democrats today are the national socialists—using regulation, mandates, law enforcement, and trillions of dollars in subsidies to coerce Americans to follow their dictates on climate and culture. Mr. Trump was a deregulator in his first term and promises to be more so in a second.
Ms. Harris is making much of Mr. Trump’s comments on Fox last Sunday that “we have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the—and it should be very easily handled by—if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”
It was a typically grandiose and self-defeating statement, but when we asked about it Thursday in an interview, Mr. Trump made clear after some rambling that he was talking about destructive riots. He said he’d “certainly not [use force] against my opponents—it’s against civil unrest.”
It's not just Trump bombast that doesn't translate into anything remotely resembling "fascism." It's the entire civil government apparatus that would be arrayed against him. This apparatus was designed for the express purpose of stopping anyone from doing what Saletan and the Democrats claim Trump wants to do.
Even if Mr. Trump doesn’t mean this, he’d have to face the obstacles built into the American system. His own judicial nominees rejected his claims about a stolen election, and Republicans in and outside his Administration blocked his attempt to overturn the election.
JD Vance is no Mike Pence, but the Electoral Count Act makes a replay of 2020 more difficult. We have confidence that American institutions—the Supreme Court, the military, Congress—would resist any attempt to subvert the Constitution.
Related: Two Weeks to Go and the Democrats Are Watching Their 'Blue Wall' Crumble
Saletan and the Democrats are pretending that nothing could stop Trump if he tried to make good on some of his more outrageous and bombastic rhetoric, but that's simply not possible. And whether or not the American people reject the Democrats' claims of Trump fascism, they have seen Trump's opponents go to unbelievable lengths to keep him off the ballot.
The Journal editors write, "The fear of fascism would have more credibility if Democrats didn’t abuse power themselves." Perhaps that's the biggest reason ordinary voters reject the "fascism" label for Trump.
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