America is not a fascist nation.
But it is heading in that direction.
As noted by Professor Timothy Snyder, U.S. President Donald Trump exhibits significant fascist tendencies, particularly “(1) the cult of personality of a Leader: (2) the party that becomes a single party; (3) the threat and use of violence; and (4) the big lie that must be accepted and used to reshape reality: in this case, that Trump can never lose an election.”
Snyder wrote that in July of 2024, before Donald Trump’s November election victory. The second Trump Administration has vindicated Snyder’s concerns, with a rapid descent into a personality cult, contempt for individual freedom, an endless search for scapegoats, and autarkic policies reminiscent of past authoritarian regimes throughout history.
Already, the U.S. President – having cowed Republicans in Congress into ceding their authority over tariffs – has abrogated for himself complete control over U.S. trade policy, setting ruinous and chaotic tariffs on a whim and treating signed trade deals as nothing more than suggestions, rather than commitments.
He has even taken to lecturing people about having too much (quite the thing for a billionaire who lives in gold-plated accommodations to be saying) and calling for short-term pain to achieve his supposedly great vision, something that will be familiar to anyone who has studied authoritarian regimes.
And now, the Trump Administration is weighing a further step up the authoritarian ladder by floating the suspension of Habeas Corpus:
“The White House is “actively looking” at ending habeas corpus as it continues its massive deportation crusade, according to deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
Habeas corpus requires authorities to justify an individual’s confinement.
“Well, the Constitution is clear—and that of course is the supreme law of the land—that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion,” Miller told reporters at the White House Friday.”
“So it’s an option we’re actively looking at. Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not,” Miller added.
The use of an external threat – a supposed ‘invasion’ – to justify the suspension of civil liberties is a hallmark of fascist regimes. The suspension of habeas corpus would be a deprivation of liberty on a vast scale.
The U.S. has suspended habeas corpus four times: The U.S. Civil War, Reconstruction in South Carolina, an insurrection in the Philippines in 1905, and Hawaii after Pearl Harbor was attacked. There is no justification for it now. The U.S. is not being attacked by a hostile power. The U.S. is not at war. There is no internal insurrection. Border crossings had already declined significantly toward the end of former U.S. President Joe Biden’s term and remain well within historic norms.
Just as he did with using a ‘national emergency’ to justify tariffs, Trump is looking for a pretext that will strip Americans – and non-Americans in the U.S. – of their rights. People are already being wrongfully sent to a brutal prison in El Salvador by the U.S., and the suspension of habeas corpus would make it even easier for that to occur. If you were in the U.S. – even with all your legal documents in order – you could be arbitrarily deemed a threat or illegal ‘invader’ and incarcerated in a brutal facility without any chance to defend yourself.
This is further confirmation that America is heading down a dangerous and disturbing path. Though few wish to admit it, American fascism is an ascendant political force within the Trump Administration. Checks and balances, international pressure, public opinion, and impending midterm elections all may slow or even reverse this path, and America may return to some version of what it once was, but it would be naive to bury our heads in the sand and pretend we don’t see what’s going on.
Spencer Fernando
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