Welcome to Elly Explains. This is the segment where I deep dive into the big stories sliding across your news feeds. In the next five minutes, I will give you all the tools you need to engage with a major news story, understand the context, and become more media literate. We will unravel the origins, the facts and maybe even the bias of mainstream media.

Today we will be talking about how Trump is following to steps to create a fascist state. You may have heard this before – that Americans are becoming facists? But what does that mean? Today, we will dive into the five steps of fascism, how Trump is using them, and why it is important we can recognise it.

Now when scholars talk about fascism, they use words like haranguing chauvinist demagogue and compensatory cults of unity – then call the concept “easy to understand.” And I’m not kidding – just read the first paragraph of my main source for this story, this book called The Five Stages of Fascism.

Many of us, hearing these words, tend to shut down. The truth is, fascism isn’t difficult to understand. At its core, fascism is an authoritarian political ideology, characterised by dictatorship, forcible suppression, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.

But can fascism still exist in a democracy?

In fact, the breeding ground of fascism appears when a democracy is so well established that people have once experienced their own version of true freedom. When a democracy is deeply founded it may become polarised—where the political difference between the Left and Right has created a governmental roadblock. Fascism feeds off this disparity and exploits it to speak to a passionate group who have a clearly defined enemy. 

It is proposed that a society can become victim to fascism in five steps: (1) creation of a movement, (2) gaining political roots, (3) acquiring power, (4) the exercise of power, and finally, (5) radicalisation.

Take phase one – creation of a movement. The creation of a fascist movement exists in an intellectual space. It is the promise of a new way of living that speaks to a deep human fear. Often, this will be masked with a promise of supporting the ‘common man,’ but really just serve a minority of corporate elite. 

Shall we turn to the U.S. for an example? Trump’s fascist movement hinges on a fear of ‘the other’ (as many do). He rallies supporters through the spread of propaganda, convincing people that their way of life has been threatened. Drawing on extreme nationalism – a common fascist tactic – Trump promotes the supremacy of White, Christian Americans. Through the promise of ‘traditional American values,’ he demonises minorities and spark rage in his constituents.

 The second stage is where most movements die down—gaining political roots. The strongest fascist ideologies will transcend the conceptual space and become a tangible group, capable of social change. This is often highly dependent on the political landscape that exists at the time. Though I would often refrain from drawing upon scholarly quotes, Robert O. Paxton does speak quite eloquently in his text ‘The Five Stages of Fascism. 

“We learn much more if we focus our gaze on the circumstances that favour the fascists—polarization within civil society and deadlocks within the political system.”

As for our Trump comparison, this stage is characterised by Trumps first term—where he planted intellectual roots in the Government. A series of destabilising world events during a Biden presidency, created space for the exploitation of political polarisation. To which, Trump swifty became aware, using his rooted connections to demand urgent change and ultimately, return to the White House.

Acquiring fascist power—the third stage—relies on cooperation with the conservative corporate elite. Structures of democracy make it difficult for a movement to overtake a legitimately elected official (for instance, by coup). Instead, fascist movements will work to gain enough popularity to take office through legitimate pathways.

It goes without explaining that this stage occurred during the last presidential election. But what remains interesting is the textbook method Trump used to achieve this. His campaign inclusions of influential conservative figures—the likes of Elon Musk, Joe Rogan and Robert Kenedy Jr—legitimised his movement in the eyes of the persuadable.

Next comes the exercise of power, stage four. This is where fascist parties act on the conservative ideologies fuelling their campaign. Pretty much just look at any time Trump makes the news for these one folks.

Once the first four steps have been complete, the fascist regime is ready to sink into stage five—radicalisation. This is where an entire population becomes united by ideology to commit otherwise unfathomable acts. In the U.S. we are already seeing the signs of this final stage.  

Trump has carefully manipulated his followers, through propaganda, to make this radical nationalistic pride desirable. The growing number of devout followers, in the U.S. and worldwide, creates normalisation for extreme right-wing ideologies.

Scholars say that Nazi Germany reached the full extent of fascism, closing all five stages and finishing with a majority population ready to dominate a minority. It is difficult for an onlooker to not draw comparisons.

 So why do we care?

Trump is following the textbook structure to build a fascist regime. We must understand the patterns in his actions so that we can transition our focus to the real root of the issue—the flawed government structures which have allowed exploitation by Trump.

While it may be easy to look at a nationalistic white man from across the globe and call him crazy, it is important to remember that every person is a product of the culture that surrounds them.

In studying the theoretical structures of fascism, we can identify the powerful elite responsible for constructing hateful ideology – and shift the focus away from the people who have been radicalised to it. The fight against fascism is not a fight against the individual—it is a battle to overcome the brainwashing orchestrated by figures of power.

We must further, refrain from confusing fascism with dictatorship. Contrary to a dictatorship, fascist leaders operate under democracy. This is perhaps what makes fascism so concerning—it is the manipulation of people to believe they have free will. It is this blind allegiance to authority, curated by propaganda, which is the darkest danger facing humanity in the modern era.