Donald Trump’s checklist for building a fascist government (Part III)

Does Donald Trump’s second administration represent part of a global slide into fascism? The events of the past week indicate that the question, which has sat in the shadow of Trump’s politics since before he was first elected, is not likely to go away.

Crikey has long been trying to keep track of the Trump government’s concrete actions (rather than rhetorical flourishes), which happen to be similar to those of regimes generally considered to be fascist.

This is our third instalment. You can read Part 1 and Part II here.

Law enforcement deployed against political enemies

California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla attempted to ask a question at a press conference led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles on Thursday. In response, he was forced to the ground by federal agents and handcuffed, before being released.

Noem’s and Homeland Security’s X accounts both falsely asserted that Padilla had not identified himself.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested in May for his protest at Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed federal immigration detention center opened by the Trump administration that month. He was held in custody for several hours. His wife Linda accused the federal government of targeting her husband.

“They didn’t arrest anyone else. They didn’t ask anyone else to leave. They wanted to make an example out of the mayor,” she said.

Further, the Justice Department has charged New Jersey congressional representative LaMonica McIver with “assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement” as she tried to block Baraka’s arrest.

McIver has called the charges “political intimidation”.

As The New York Times cautiously noted, “It is rare for the Department of Justice to pursue federal criminal charges against a sitting member of Congress for matters other than corruption or campaign finance violations.”

Attacks on journalism

Trump filed a US$10 billion lawsuit against CBS in October last year, alleging it deceptively edited a 60 Minutes interview with his Democratic Party opponent in the presidential election, Kamala Harris. He has since doubled his claim to US$20 billion. Trump has already received US$15 million towards his presidential library from a defamation lawsuit against the ABC network.

Beyond lawfare, there have been increasing physical dangers faced by journalists in Trump’s America, as the shooting of Australian 9News journalist Lauren Tomasi by a cop with a rubber bullet, while she was covering demonstrations in Los Angeles, starkly brought home to Australia.

Advocacy group Reporters Without Borders says there have been at least 31 attacks on journalists — 27 from law enforcement — since the protests started.

Further, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the First Amendment Coalition and Freedom of the Press Foundation and others sent a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem that stated “federal officers appear to have deliberately targeted journalists who were doing nothing more than their job covering the news”.

Cult of personality

That there is a cult of personality around Trump is so obvious as to be redundant at this point, and to present all the Insta-kitsch examples would take up more space than we have here. But the confluence of the events this coming weekend merits noting.

Washington, DC, will host a military parade on Saturday to mark the 250th anniversary of the US Army, which just happens to coincide with Trump’s 79th birthday. He says the parade will be “like no other”.

Protests are planned nationwide under the heading “no kings”.

Discussing the parade on Tuesday, Trump promised:

If there’s any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force. I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.