The MAGA Cap: Is Trumpism a 21st century Fascism?

At the heart of fascist ideology is what scholar Roger Griffin calls “palingenetic ultranationalism," the myth of nation rebirth following a period of perceived decadence and decline. Mussolini promised to resurrect the glory of the Roman Empire, while Hitler pledged to reverse the humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles. 

In a modern context, the slogan “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) serves as a textbook articulation of this myth. It frames the present as a fallen state, one corrupted by globalists and liberal elites, asserting that the nation’s former greatness can only be recovered through a radical break with the status quo. The power of the slogan lies in its vagueness, allowing followers to project their own specific grievances onto a shared narrative of loss and restoration, a tactic that was central to the Nazi party’s cross-class appeal in the 1930s.

Historically, fascist mobilization relies on language that dehumanizes opponents to prepare the public for authoritarian rule. Perhaps the most alarming parallel is Trump’s repeated assertion that undocumented immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country”. Which is not standard policy critique; rather, it's biological determinism. In Mein Kampf, Hitler used nearly identical language, claiming that great cultures perished because their “creative race died out from blood poisoning,” By framing migration as a biological threat to the health of the nation. The rhetoric gives permission for extreme measures like mass internment. Furthermore, the use of the term “vermin” to describe political opponents, specifically “communists, Marxists, and the radical left, mirrors that of the Nazi use of the German term Ungeziefer. This language suggests the target is a tumor that needs to be carved out, when in reality, it is a constituency that needs to be addressed like any other. When opponents are stripped of their humanity, constitutional protections start looking like category errors rather than fundamental rights. 

Fascist movements often center on an idea of betrayal, the idea that the nation was sabotaged from within by internal enemies. In Nazi Germany, this was the Dolchstoßlegende [translates to: stab in the back] myth. Which claimed that the German army was undefeated in the First World War, instead, it was betrayed by the Jewish population, and the Socialists from within Germany. America has the same; the “stolen election " posits a similar narrative. One where Trump claims that the Republicans had a landslide victory that was taken by the “deep state.” Like its Nazi predecessor, it serves to delegitimize the current government [in this case, the Biden administration] and calls it an occupation of the real government. It also justifies the suspension of democratic activity and suggests that power must be restored to its “rightful leader.”  Fascism pioneered the aestheticization of politics, using spectacle and symbolism to create an emotional rather than rational bond with the masses. The Trump rally functions as a modern equivalent to the Nuremberg rallies, a ritual of collective affirmation where individualism dissolves into the movement. Even the MAGA hat serves as a “uniform of the mind.” While not a military tunic like the Italian Blackshirts, it signals tribal identity and defiance against “liberal cultural norms. This is visual culture, supported by “strongmen” iconography, such as digital art depicting Trump as a superhero or soldier, reflecting an obsession with physical strength and a disdain for the “weakness” of the law. 

Beyond rhetoric, the structural goals of Trumpism align with the fascist principle of Gleichschaltung [meaning coordination], the total subordination of the state bureaucracy to the leader’s will. Trump's "Schedule F” proposal seeks to reclassify tens of thousands of civil service positions as “political appointees.” With a goal to dismantle the non-partisan expertise of the “deep state” and replace it with personnel loyal solely to the leader, who happens to be Trump. This mirrors the fascist demand that the state apparatus be an extension of the party. Similarly, he has formed an assault on the judiciary, characterizing judges who rule against him as corrupt. Trump, in this move, seeks to delegitimize any authority that exists independently of the leader's will. While the psychological and rhetorical convergences are profound, there are notable differences in economic policy. Classical fascism utilized "Corporatism," where the state was the undisputed master of capital and production. In contrast, Trumpism relies on neoliberal deregulation and tax cuts, policies more aligned with the traditional laissez-faire conservatism and fascist statism. Additionally, Trump did not build a disciplined, hierarchical party from the ground up like the NSDAP; he executed a hostile takeover of the existing Republican Party. The MAGA movement remains more of a decentralized cult of personality than a rigidly regimented party. 

For years, historian Robert Paxton, the author of The Anatomy of Fascism, resisted the Fascist label for Trump, viewing him instead as a right-wing populist. However, the events of January 6, 2021, changed the scholarly consensus. Paxton argued that the incitement of violence to overturn a democratic election moved Trump to the operational sphere of Fascism. The Trump movement also aligns with at least 12 of Umberto Eco’s 14 criteria for “Ur-Fascism,” including the “obsession with a plot,” “disagreement is treason,” and “contempt for the weak.” As history suggests, the danger of such movements is not that they perfectly replicate the past, but that they adapt the authoritarian impulse to the tools of the present. Modern fascism uses the mechanisms of democracy to dismantle it from within.