John Kelly confirms what we already knew: Donald Trump is a fascist

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John Kelly Donald Trump fascist fascism 2024 election

John Kelly confirms what we already knew: Donald Trump is a fascist

Ever since Donald Trump arrived on the scene and rebranded conservatism as America First nationalism, the fascist heart of the dictator wannabe has been evident for everyone not drinking the orange Kool-Aid to see — a fact recently confirmed by Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly.

Kelly is a former Marine Corps general and served as Trump’s Department of Homeland Security secretary before becoming his chief of staff. Following Trump’s recent comments about using the military against Americans that he branded as the “enemy within,” Kelly sat down for interviews to explain how Trump’s disregard of the Constitution and the rule of law are evidence of the former president’s fascist philosophy (via USA Today):

“Well, looking at the definition of fascism,” Kelly told the Times while looking at an online definition of the word, “It’s a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy.”

“So certainly, in my experience, those are the kinds of things that he thinks would work better in terms of running America,” Kelly said. “So, he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.”

Kelly also confirmed reports that Trump has spoken positively about Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. “He commented more than once that, ‘You know, Hitler did some good things, too.’” (Emphasis mine)

Being a fascist isn’t unique to Donald Trump; the heart of fascism has been beating within the Republican Party for many years as they cling to the lie that Trump’s nationalism is a new-and-improved version of conservatism.

For example, in the first annual National Conservatism Conference held in Washington, D.C., we were told that nationalism/fascism was necessary to equip government with the tools it needs to right the wrongs brought about by the traditional conservatism that organizers proclaimed had outlived its usefulness economically and culturally.

“Today we declare independence,” NCC organizer Yoram Hazony said, “from the set of ideas that sees the atomic individual, the free and equal individual, as the only thing that matters in politics.”

Then-FOX News host Tucker Carlson said in a keynote speech that big government was less a threat to liberty than the free market. “The main threat to your ability to live your life as you choose does not come from government anymore,” Carlson declared. “It comes from the private sector.” (Emphasis mine)

In its coverage of the conference, Reason.com concluded:

“The true object of the nationalists’ ire is much closer to home: They cannot abide individual Americans making social and economic choices they do not like. For consumers, the question might be whether to buy foreign or domestic. For a business owner, it might be where to open a factory.

“Regardless, the new nationalists have decided not only that there is a right answer from a moral perspective but that government should force you to choose correctly.” (emphasis mine)

Another Trumpist Republican in attendance at the first NCC was Josh Hawley, the guy who made nationalism and by default, fascism, key to his failed presidential ambitions. In 2021, Hawley introduced a liberty-killing bill that would have given government unlimited power to dismantle free speech by taking down Big Tech.

It should be noted here that Donald Trump proposed something along these lines when he called for shutting down Google because they were being “very bad” to him.

Back to Tucker Carlson for a moment. His love of nationalism/fascism was the theme in a 2021 interview with J.D. Vance during the faux conservative’s run for the U.S. Senate in Ohio. During the interview, they channeled their inner Bernie Sanders when they declared that government should seize the assets of political non-profits that don’t believe as they do, and then redistribute that wealth to organizations that agree with their “conservative” views.

During the interview, Carlson complained that groups like the Ford Foundation could “completely change the country, non-democratically, using their tax exemption,” and he appeared shocked that Marxists like Bernie Sanders weren’t pushing hard to tax “openly partisan” nonprofits. In response, Vance called groups like the Ford Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and the Harvard University endowment “fundamentally cancers on society.”

The fascist heart now beating in the chest of the Trumpist Republican Party has also been exposed in groups that used to be foundational to conservatism, such as the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC, or to be more accurate, TPAC).

CPAC 2020 provided a virtual who’s who of nationalist/fascist speakers declaring their undying devotion to their nationalist/fascist leader. Josh Hawley, Donald Trump, Jr., and Kevin McCarthy were in attendance to hold a panel discussion addressing the question, “What’s the Right Path Forward on Big Tech?”.

American Conservative Union (ACU) chairman Matt Schlapp called Trump Jr., McCarthy, and Hawley three of the most high-profile conservative leaders in America, and said in part, “I don’t think there is a more important issue facing the American political debate…” when trying to explain his rationale for having the trio speak.

Needless to say, these three members of the nationalism/fascism mutual admiration society were thrilled to be given this opportunity to attack the free market and liberty in the name of Trump’s America First agenda”

“Leader McCarthy and Senator Hawley have been warriors for my father’s America First agenda and are also two people who represent the future of the Republican Party.” ~ Donald Trump, Jr.

“Conservatives are more energized than ever by President Trump’s America First agenda and the tremendous success our country is experiencing. Integral to this movement are Donald Trump Jr. and Senator Hawley.” ~ Rep. Kevin McCarthy

Any doubts about CPAC’s abandonment of conservatism and embrace of Trumpist Republicans’ nationalism/fascism were confirmed when Matt Schlapp appeared on Steve Bannon’s War Room radio program during the 2022 midterms and declared that “we are no longer conservatives.”

The destruction of conservatism has been a work-in-progress by the Mitch McConnells and John Boehners of the Republican Party ever since Ronald Reagan handed over the reins to George H.W. Bush, but the stark reality of its demise has come sharply into focus in the Age of Trump.

Equally tragic in this comedy of errors — apologies to William Shakespeare — is how media conservatives-in-name-only like the gang of sycophants working at the pro-Trump echo chamber known as BlazeTV who have embraced nationalism/fascism and sold their souls to Faustian Trump.

The heart of a fascist beats within Donald Trump’s chest, and he will destroy liberty in America if he wins the 2024 election. And that’s one more reason why conservatives shouldn’t put their confidence in him or the spineless cowards that make up the Republican Party.

 

David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative. He holds people of every political stripe accountable for their failure to uphold conservative values, and he promotes those values instead of political parties. He the author of The New Axis of Evil: Exposing the Bipartisan War on Liberty.

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