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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Jonathan Freedland

Trump really could be the next president. So it’s time to call his instincts what they are: fascist

Donald Trump in Las Vegas, Nevada, 24 October 2024.
Donald Trump in Las Vegas, Nevada, 24 October 2024. Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

There is a good chance that in 10 days’ time, Americans will elect the first fascist president of the United States. It sounds hyperbolic, it sounds hysterical. Indeed, for exactly those reasons, many of his opponents long held back from using that word about Donald Trump. But the hour is late. Voting is already under way. It’s time to spell out what Trump has said and done, what he threatens to do, what he is.

Put aside the personal grossness, on display again in recent days with his reference to the size of the late Arnold Palmer’s manhood. Put aside the fact that he’s a twice-impeached, four times indicted, convicted felon who has been found liable by a court for rape. Put aside the latest accusations from a former model who says she met Trump through Jeffrey Epstein, and that the former president groped her in what she believed was a “twisted game” between the two men.

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