Washington, DC — In the closing weeks of the election, two interrelated storylines look to define the Republicans’ 2024 campaign: Republicans’ appeal to voters based on fear and resentment towards immigrants, and the decisive chorus warning that Trump is running a fascist campaign. The comments of John Kelly – the former Marine General, hardline DHS Secretary, and longest-serving presidential chief of staff during Donald Trump’s first term – about Trump’s “fascist” and “authoritarian” tendencies have underscored the former president’s unique dangers that make him unfit for office. As Kelly told The New York Times:
“Well, looking at the definition of fascism: 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. Certainly, the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist.”
Kelly’s comments, alongside similar warnings from military leaders Mark Milley and James Mattis, dispel any doubts about what is on the ballot. Trump is using his lies about immigrants, crime, and the enemy within as both the vehicle to seize power as well as the central feature of his dangerous plans for the country in a potential second term.
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“Whatever label you want to use to define the dangerous brand of authoritarianism that Donald Trump and his movement represent, the role of immigration is central to the dangerous, dystopian vision Trump has for America. On immigration – specifically the demonizing of the ‘other’ and the emphasis on related lurid lies about the dangers immigrants pose to Americans and ‘real Americans’ way of life is the core focus and vehicle of how he is trying to take power. He is using a classic page from the playbook of other fascists and right-wing authoritarians. Backed by more than a billion dollars of nativist ads and messaging, Trump and his team of campaign operatives and billionaires are trying to weaponize immigration fears as the centerpiece of his closing argument.
Immigration is also the organizing principle around which much of his second-term policy agenda would operate. The vision of ‘bloody’ and unsparing mass deportations – including mass roundups, migrant camps, and relying on the Alien Enemies Act – is the signature policy item of what he intends to do once in power. His targets go beyond undocumented immigrants or those who entered under Biden to include long-term, deeply rooted immigrants he plans to strip of legal status, like DACA recipients and TPS holders. He has also made it clear that he favors using the military and red state National Guard to target political rivals (specifically naming ‘the Pelosis’ and Adam Schiff, but also TV networks and journalists), and he has plans to denaturalize certain immigrants and strip citizenship from American citizens who were born here, fundamentally redefining citizenship. This is all unprecedented in major party recent history and underscores the tremendous and dangerous stakes.”
Resources and Background
- Read America’s Voice Substack analysis, “He’s Running a Fascist Campaign,” detailing how Republicans’ nativist populism is more than a ploy to scare up votes, but underwriting a fascist project in America.
- Read America’s Voice analysis, “Republicans’ Billion-Dollar Bet on Nativism”
