Amazing the way pundits tip-toe around using words like "fascism" or "authoritarianism" even now. Because you know who DIDN'T hesitate to use those terms in 2016? Actual scholars of authoritarianism, who agreed that Trump was an aspiring autocrat and that democracy was in danger.
The pundits who proclaimed scholars warning of authoritarianism to be "alarmists" are equivalent to flat-earthers who denounce scientists. That's how unambiguous the warnings of the scholars were, and that's how ignorant the pundits were -- and, in many cases, still are.
Do you know how rare it is for a large group of PhDs to agree on anything?! But in 2016, scholars of varied disciplines, regional specializations, and political orientations all agreed on the threat of Trump. We spoke out, loudly, to a receptive public and a vacuuous elite.
Scholars of authoritarianism weren't alone. People who lived in authoritarian states said the same thing. The targets of Trump -- ethnic and religious minorities who had already endured autocratic policies in the US -- called it out too. As did many with simple common sense.
Complicity, denial, selfishness -- take your pick, you needed a LOT of it to not see this threat coming. Why they refuse to do so is a serious question. Academics should study the "good Germans" dominating our media and political institutions. They continue to inflict great harm.
