The progressive left has a disturbing penchant for watering down terms that once used to mean something but now mean next to nothing. We have seen them do this with words like “racist,” “sexist,” and others.
Overusing these terms already carries with it the potential for danger. But few are more dangerous than how the left has watered down the term “fascist.”
Talking heads and politicians on the left have used this label on their political opponents for years. But over the past decade, they have gone into overdrive, especially in the Trump era. It seems hardly a day goes by when some progressive gets on television or social media to deride the former president as a “fascist” or “Hitler” while labeling his supporters as “Nazis.”
As my colleague, Adam Turner, noted:
First, the partisan Democrats begin to blacken the name of the Republican presidential candidate in the run-up to the election as they have done to all Republican presidential nominees. It is always over the top, explicitly painting him (so far) as some sort of devil. Usually, said Republican is specifically compared to Adolf Hitler, as was Eisenhower, Goldwater, Reagan, Bush II, McCain, Romney, and now Trump. Sometimes, said Republican is (also) depicted as/or a total dunce, as was Eisenhower, Ford, Reagan, Bush II, and now Trump.
Second, if said Republican gets elected president, after the first few thousand times of Democrats screaming “fascist” or “racist” or “Hitler” or “moron,” these charges begin to lose their punch with non-partisan Democrats.
The principle here is really simple – see Aesop’s fable, “The boy who cried wolf.”
Yet, even though they likely know they are diminishing the seriousness of the term “fascist,” they simply cannot help themselves. Vice President Kamala Harris, during a recent town hall, answered in the affirmative when asked whether she believes Trump is a fascist.
COOPER: There are tens of millions of Americans who have heard all those things and don't buy it... they're still gonna vote for President Trump. He's arguably more popular now than ever. What do you say to convince them?
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 24, 2024
KAMALA: *Repeats failed talking points AGAIN* pic.twitter.com/I4muV5fB5c
California Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed similar sentiments during an appearance on MSNBC.
Gavin Newsom wants you to believe Trump is a fascist:
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) October 21, 2024
"I know it's a loaded word, but when you say you're gonna be dictator on day one, look up the definition of fascism...I don't think it's overstating." pic.twitter.com/dNpNDyPACp
Former Rep. Liz Cheney, who is supposedly a Republican, also indicated that the former president is a fascist.
WATCH: Gen. Mark Milley called Donald Trump a “fascist,” according to Bob Woodward’s new book.
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) October 13, 2024
Liz Cheney says on #MTP that she sees “no reason to disagree with that assessment.” pic.twitter.com/xyaMQFbGxe
I don’t believe for one second that any of these people truly believe in their heart of hearts that Donald Trump is a fascist. Perhaps with the exception of Harris, none of these people are dumb enough to actually believe such a thing. To them, the word “fascist” is nothing more than a political cudgel to use against those who disagree with them.
Still, the cynical use of this label could potentially have dire consequences for the country at some point.
Let’s imagine what would happen if an actual fascist movement began to gain more traction in the United States. I’m not talking about a regular conservative movement that the left would deceptively refer to as fascist to score cheap political points. I’m talking about a bonafide “We want the government to dominate every area of society” movement.
This movement would have all the hallmarks of fascism – advocating for repression of free speech, political violence against the opposition, extreme nationalism, and centralized, unchecked power.
In today’s political environment, such a movement could possibly gradually gain traction by playing on people’s fears and radicalizing people using online platforms. Indeed, there are actual fascist movements in the United States already, but it has not garnered the level of support needed to get their people in positions of power.
If this happened, the left would do their usual shtick, warning about the evils of this fascist campaign – and absolutely nobody would listen to them or take them seriously.
Why? Because now, “fascism” is just another buzzword in the left-wing political lexicon. They have called everyone fascist, which means nobody is fascist – even real fascists. It is just another retelling of “The Democrats Who Cried Fascist.” People will simply shrug off any warnings coming from left-wing media and politicians – and you can’t blame them.
At this point, Americans are desensitized to the word. Hell, even mentions of Hitler do not evoke the same level of emotion that they used to simply because the left has labeled everyone as Hitler. In order to be a fascist in today’s politics, all one has to do is oppose abortion, illegal immigration, bloated government, and left-wing identity politics. Indeed, it is pretty easy to be a fascist these days.
This environment the hard left is creating will only make it easier for authentic fascist movements to rise up and gain power and influence in American society. It might not happen tomorrow. But if this trend continues, it might be inevitable, especially as things in America get even worse and people cry out for new solutions because the current way of doing this isn’t working.
This is not a far-fetched scenario. A quick glance at history shows that fascist movements gained prominence in some countries because people either ignored the early warning signs or simply did not know what to look for until it was too late. If something isn’t done to counteract the left’s insistence on using fascism as a political weapon, the wolf could come sooner than we think.
