Trump’s ‘Aspirational Fascism’ Casts a Shadow Over 2024
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty
Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.
It’s the last week of 2023 and 2024 already feels like too much to handle—what with Donald Trump’s promise to be a dictator for “one day” if reelected and his insistence that immigrants are “poisoning” American blood. In The New Abnormal’s latest episode, hosts Danielle Moodie and Andy Levy chat with the Center for American Progress’ president Patrick Gaspard about Trump’s “aspirational fascism” and the stakes in the coming election.
“He's promised to use his Department of Justice to go after political enemies and said he would instruct his Attorney General to indict and possibly jail anyone he opposes,” Gaspard notes. “He called his opponents vermin, the kind of language we haven't heard since the National Socialists in Germany in the 1930s. And he said that his political opponents in America pose a greater threat than our enemies in North Korea, and he would treat them accordingly. These are not things that we're projecting on him.”
Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast.
On a cheerier note, the pod also welcomes Martin Pengelly, the Washington breaking news correspondent for The Guardian, to talk about his fascinating new book Brotherhood: When West Point Rugby Went to War. The book, Pengelly says, is “trying to express what rugby is at West Point and what rugby is at West Point has changed.”
One of Pengelly’s passages from the book sums it up best: “It fostered an outsider’s bond. It was tribal, irreverent and fun. That suited those for whom the hardest part of West Point was the adjustment to military discipline. Some will always have difficulty keeping a straight face. And it wasn’t a coincidence that some found a home under Mike Mahan, the rugby coach, who once chafed at Officialdom himself.”
Get the best of The Beast delivered right to your inbox
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.