Nazis were a specific fascist movement in 1930s Germany, rooted in German ethno-nationalism, racial purity laws, and National Socialist party ideology. Fascism as a system is broader; it existed in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Japan, and elsewhere, each with unique traits.
Trump is a textbook fascist. He meets Eco’s 14 traits almost line-by-line. But calling him a Nazi is both technically wrong and strategically sloppy. It:
Collapses nuance: Not every fascist = Hitler. Mussolini wasn’t Hitler, Franco wasn’t Hitler. Trump isn’t Hitler; he’s his own brand of fascist.
Hurts credibility: Throwing “Nazi” at everything feeds the exact stereotype of the left as hysterical and unserious. Precision strengthens arguments, inflation weakens them.
Lets fascists off the hook: If you only call someone a Nazi when they literally cosplay as Hitler, you leave room for “non-Nazi” fascists to hide in plain sight. Better to call them what they actually are: fascists.
Yes, some of Trump’s followers idolize Hitler. That makes those people neo-Nazis. But that doesn’t make Trump, or the entire MAGA movement, literal Nazis. They’re fascists. And that distinction matters if you want to be taken seriously instead of sounding like you’re just screaming ‘Hitler!’ at everything.
FFS he’s not literally literally Hitler, clearly. Hitler died in 1945. But he’s literally literally acting like Hitler. Like I said, he’s a Nazi in everything but literal Nazi party membership. There’s more to being a Nazi than being a fascist, and he’s not only a fascist but he’s trying to BE Hitler. I’m gonna keep calling him a Nazi because it’s actually the best description of what he is.
This is exactly the problem. You admit he’s not a literal Nazi, but then you want to redefine the term until it just means “fascist who reminds me of Hitler”. That’s sloppy and self-defeating.
If Trump is a fascist, call him a fascist. Fascism is already enough; it carries all the authoritarian, ultranationalist, and anti-democratic weight it needs. When you inflate it into “Nazi” three things happen:
You blur history. Nazis weren’t just fascists; they were a specific movement tied to German racial ideology, Lebensraum, and National Socialism. Pretending it’s interchangeable erases the fact that fascism takes different forms in different places.
You hand them a defence. If you call Trump a Nazi, he and his defenders can instantly go “See? They’re hysterical, everyone’s Hitler to them”. The word loses its punch. If you call him a fascist, there’s no escape, it sticks because it’s technically correct.
You dilute urgency. If Trump is a “Nazi” then what do you call the actual neo-Nazis goose-stepping with swastikas? Once you’ve maxed out the language, you’ve got nowhere left to escalate when something worse comes along.
Calling Trump a Nazi might feel cathartic, but it’s lazy. Calling him a fascist is both correct and harder to dodge. Accuracy is a weapon, why throw it away?
Nazi is not a synonym for fascist.
Nazis were a specific fascist movement in 1930s Germany, rooted in German ethno-nationalism, racial purity laws, and National Socialist party ideology. Fascism as a system is broader; it existed in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Japan, and elsewhere, each with unique traits.
Trump is a textbook fascist. He meets Eco’s 14 traits almost line-by-line. But calling him a Nazi is both technically wrong and strategically sloppy. It:
Collapses nuance: Not every fascist = Hitler. Mussolini wasn’t Hitler, Franco wasn’t Hitler. Trump isn’t Hitler; he’s his own brand of fascist.
Hurts credibility: Throwing “Nazi” at everything feeds the exact stereotype of the left as hysterical and unserious. Precision strengthens arguments, inflation weakens them.
Lets fascists off the hook: If you only call someone a Nazi when they literally cosplay as Hitler, you leave room for “non-Nazi” fascists to hide in plain sight. Better to call them what they actually are: fascists.
Yes, some of Trump’s followers idolize Hitler. That makes those people neo-Nazis. But that doesn’t make Trump, or the entire MAGA movement, literal Nazis. They’re fascists. And that distinction matters if you want to be taken seriously instead of sounding like you’re just screaming ‘Hitler!’ at everything.
FFS he’s not literally literally Hitler, clearly. Hitler died in 1945. But he’s literally literally acting like Hitler. Like I said, he’s a Nazi in everything but literal Nazi party membership. There’s more to being a Nazi than being a fascist, and he’s not only a fascist but he’s trying to BE Hitler. I’m gonna keep calling him a Nazi because it’s actually the best description of what he is.
This is exactly the problem. You admit he’s not a literal Nazi, but then you want to redefine the term until it just means “fascist who reminds me of Hitler”. That’s sloppy and self-defeating.
If Trump is a fascist, call him a fascist. Fascism is already enough; it carries all the authoritarian, ultranationalist, and anti-democratic weight it needs. When you inflate it into “Nazi” three things happen:
You blur history. Nazis weren’t just fascists; they were a specific movement tied to German racial ideology, Lebensraum, and National Socialism. Pretending it’s interchangeable erases the fact that fascism takes different forms in different places.
You hand them a defence. If you call Trump a Nazi, he and his defenders can instantly go “See? They’re hysterical, everyone’s Hitler to them”. The word loses its punch. If you call him a fascist, there’s no escape, it sticks because it’s technically correct.
You dilute urgency. If Trump is a “Nazi” then what do you call the actual neo-Nazis goose-stepping with swastikas? Once you’ve maxed out the language, you’ve got nowhere left to escalate when something worse comes along.
Calling Trump a Nazi might feel cathartic, but it’s lazy. Calling him a fascist is both correct and harder to dodge. Accuracy is a weapon, why throw it away?
No, stop it. He is a fucking Nazi. He is literally trying to be Hitler. Fuck off with this bullshit.
You can keep sounding like a meme and I’m going to keep calling Trump what he actually is; a fascist.
The truth will be louder than your tantrum.