One week after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Cambridge (UK) historian Richard Evans argued that, whatever else Donald Trump may be, he is not a fascist: “For all of Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric, the attack on Congress was not a pre-planned attempt to seize the reins of government.” By contrast, Yale professor Jason Stanley submits that Trump is “creating a fascist social and political movement with himself as the leader.”

Are we there yet? Is fascism nascent in the United States?

We will formulate an answer to this question by reviewing the characteristics of fascism, investigating Christian nationalism and its ties to the Trump wing of the Republican party, and determining whether the actions taken by Trump and his allies represent a clear and present danger to representative government.

Course instructor: Larry Metzger

Larry Metzger received his PhD in European History from Boston University and has taught history for 45 years. He writes, “the once-inconceivable proliferation of hate crimes, political extremism, and increasing appeals to violence culminating in the Donald Trump’s attempted January 2022 coup show me no nation is immune from the appeal of fascism.”