I have spent the last four years arguing that it's not right to call Trump a fascist. There are certainly fascists that support him, so I can see the confusion. However, Trump is part of a broader populist, authoritarian movement that is fundamentally oligarchical and kleptocratic. Basically, a bunch of rich dudes motivate racial and economic resentment in order to loot the states to enrich themselves and other rich elites. Trump can be a true threat to American democracy without being a fascist.
As this piece by Erica De Bruin lays out, what Trump is doing now is not a "slow motion coup in plain sight." Trump's actions are basically a tantrum, but the tacit and overt support from elected Republicans fits more into "democratic backsliding," a phenomenon in keeping with the description of Trumpist politics above.
Understanding that Trump is part of the democratic backsliding movement that we have seen in the Philippines, Hungary, Turkey, Poland and, arguably, Russia (was Russia ever a democracy?) is critical to understanding how to fit him. America pioneered mass democracy and the populism that can arise with it. Hopefully, we can help provide the antidote to this movement that could shatter the broad consensus in the developed world about the importance of true, principled liberal democracy. "Having elections" is an insufficient definition of what democracy is. Trump was elected - with a clear minority of the vote - and is claiming victory despite an even greater democratic drubbing.
Trump's ineptitude - Rudy Giuliani is in charge of his electoral legal team? - means there is very little chance of him hanging on past January 20th. There will likely be more street violence, which feeds into Trump's narrative. (I think we need to reckon with the effect that Portland-style violence had in activating authoritarian emotions in many Americans that supported Trump.) The military is extremely unlikely to support a coup. Establishment Republicans are fine with Trump trashing the election results, undermining a democratic system that tilts against them if it helps keep their base angry.
This is bad. It is. But it's not fascism, and it's not a coup.
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