NPR

Fascism Scholar Says U.S. Is 'Losing Its Democratic Status'

Yale professor Jason Stanley wrote the book How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. He talked with NPR about defining fascism and how conspiracy theories play a part.
People march during the nationwide protest demanding the end to the Trump administration in New York City on Saturday. Protesters have often accused President Trump of being fascist.

Since it was first popularized by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in the 1920s, fascism, and accusations of it, have been a common theme in American political discourse.

Voices on the left warned of fascism in the form of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush; conservatives have accused liberals of actually being the ones to embrace the far-right ideology.

Historians have between Donald Trump in the form of President Trump. And the — anti-fascist — protesters at some demonstrations has upped attention to the word.

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