If these California Republicans aren’t fascist, they must disavow Trump’s election lies

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.”

These words came to mind as I walked past the California state Capitol, which is currently surrounded by a 6-foot fence, police in riot gear and National Guard troops. Hannah Arendt wrote them in 1951’s “The Origins of Totalitarianism,” which examined how the 20th century’s most infamous dictators amassed power.

In 2021, we understand the threat posed by people with no sense of reality. California’s Capitol has been converted into a fortress because Donald Trump and his Republicans have whipped their political base into a frenzy with baseless claims of voter fraud. Their demonstrably false claims have created real terror. After the attack on the United States Capitol, we have no idea how far some of Trump’s deluded followers might take their anti-government zeal.

Another quote from Arendt: “Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such, for in their opinion fact depends entirely on the power of man who can fabricate it.”

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Sound familiar? In 2020, over 74 million Americans voted for a man who lies with almost every breath. Thankfully, Trump lost by over 7 million votes. But defeat is no obstacle for a leader whose entire political strategy consists of weaponized mendacity.

From Pizzagate to Deep State, from QAnon to #StopTheSteal, Trump’s cult-like followers have swallowed one deranged conspiracy theory after another. Many now live in an alternate reality in which Trump, who just attempted a coup, is actually the victim of a coup (possibly carried out by brain-harvesting Satanists who arranged the Capitol attack to discredit the president).

None of it makes sense, but that’s the point. The use of disinformation to create a sense of “unreality” is one hallmark of fascist politics.

“Fascist politics exchanges reality for the pronouncements of a single individual, or perhaps a political party,” wrote Yale Prof. Jason Stanley in “How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them.” “Regular and repeated lying is part of the process by which fascist politics destroys the information space.”

Stanley’s book details the other tell-tale characteristics of fascist politics, including a fixation on a nation’s “mythic past” (“Make America Great Again”); an “us vs. them” politics of division; propaganda attacks on intellectuals and experts (like university professors, journalists or figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci); white supremacy and misogyny; the use of “law and order” as a dog whistle to target minorities; and the dehumanization of certain groups (like immigrants). For the full list, I recommend Stanley’s book.

Some experts have argued that Trump doesn’t qualify as a true fascist because he hasn’t directed violent forces against the government, but he’s now ticked that box on the fascism checklist.

Back to our besieged state Capitol: Last week, state Sen. Shannon Grove, leader of the senate Republicans, signed onto a California Republican Party press release that blasted an editorial in The Sacramento Bee. The editorial had criticized the state’s Republicans for spreading lies, embracing fascism and fomenting violence. The GOP statement called the editorial “extraordinarily dangerous.”

On that we can agree. The editorial spoke plain truths, and nothing is more dangerous to fascism than truth. As long as there is a free press and a common standard for perceiving reality, fascism cannot thrive.

“Fascists attack the truth because truth is central to a free democracy,” said Stanley in a New York Times interview.

“I still believe ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ will be President [for] the next 4 years. #EXPOSETHECORRUPTION #USA,” tweeted Grove on Nov. 8, after the Associated Press called the election for Joe Biden.

“We all see it. We all know what you’re doing. We are not going to let you cheat and steal this election,” tweeted state Sen. Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, on Nov. 4.

“This is Lexington and Concord. First shots fired against tyranny,” said Assemblyman Randy Voepel, R-Santee, after the Capitol attack.

On Nov. 8, a Bee editorial scorched Grove, Melendez and Rep. Doug La Malfa for “creating a fantasy world in which Trump will somehow cling to power against the will of the people” with their election lies.

We called their behavior “dishonest, disgraceful and dangerous” and asked them to acknowledge Biden’s victory. Two months later, not one of them has followed suit and our state Capitol is on high alert through Biden’s inauguration.

Some Republicans now decry violence, but it’s not enough to pray for peace while fanning the flames of insurrection with lies. They must disavow Trump’s lies or be accountable for their results.

It’s also not enough for the rest of us to describe only the symptoms of the Republicans’ political disease. We must understand its end goal. Because if Trump had managed to seize dictatorial power in a fascist coup, many California Republicans would be tweeting “hallelujah!”