Christopher R. Browning, a historian of Nazi Germany who teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has long resisted labeling former President Donald Trump a fascist, despite his authoritarian behavior.
However, in a new essay for The Atlantic, Browning argues that the potential for fascism is definitely there if Trump was to win a second term, and he points to plans by Trump allies to rip apart protections for civil servants as the starting point for an authoritarian takeover.
What's more, Browning says that the chaotic final days of the first Trump White House would be a preview of coming attractions.
"The very last months of the Trump presidency foreshadowed what a second term would entail," he writes. "When formerly loyal vassals such as Attorney General William Barr and Defense Secretary Mark Esper demonstrated that they would not cross the line into unconstitutional insurgency, Trump sought sycophants for whom no such line existed. In a new Trump administration, total devotion to the leader would be the sole qualification for appointment."
READ MORE: Many Christians are 'almost in despair' over what Trump has done to their faith: evangelical leader
Browning acknowledges that Trump still hasn't started pushing for wars of aggression that were a staple of fascist leaders during World War II.
However, he says that it seems Trump could essentially wage war on his own country.
"For me, what Trump is offering for his second presidency will meet the threshold, and the label I’d choose to describe it would be 'isolationist fascism,'" he concludes. "Until now, such a concept would have been an oxymoron, a historical phenomenon without precedent. Trump continues to break every mold."