'Game over': Yale fascism expert moving to Canada because US is becoming a 'dictatorship'

Quite often, Americans who threaten to leave the United States for political reasons don't follow through when they see how complex the immigration laws of other countries can be. But during Donald Trump's second presidency, some well-known Americans really are expressing their worries about the United States' current political climate by moving to other countries.

Liberal actress Rosie O'Donnell, an outspoken Trump critic, is now living in the Republic of Ireland. And Jason Stanley, a Yale University professor known for his expertise on fascism, is accepting a job offer in Canada — as he fears the U.S. is becoming increasingly authoritarian.

Stanley, author of the 2018 book, "How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them," accepted a position at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. And he is speaking out about his reasons for leaving the U.S.

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Stanley told the website The Daily Nous that he is moving to Canada "to raise my kids in a country that is not tilting towards a fascist dictatorship." And he believes that Columbia University in New York City and other colleges are making a huge mistake by capitulating to Trump rather than fighting back against his war on academia.

"When I saw Columbia completely capitulate," Stanley told the Daily Nous, "and I saw this vocabulary of: well, we're going to work behind the scenes because we're not going to get targeted — that whole way of thinking pre-supposes that some universities will get targeted, and you don't want to be one of those universities. And that's just a losing strategy. You've got to just band together and say an attack on one university is an attack on all universities. And maybe you lose that fight, but you’re certainly going to lose this one if you give up before you fight."

Stanley continued, "Columbia was just such a warning. I just became very worried because I didn't see a strong enough reaction in other universities to side with Columbia. I see Yale trying not to be a target. And as I said, that's a losing strategy."

Stanley's decision to move to Canada is inspiring some strong reactions on Social Media.

On Bluesky, 1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones wrote, "When scholars of authoritarianism and fascism leave US universities because of the deteriorating political situation here, we should really worry."

Bluesky user Franklin Seal fears that the U.S. has passed the point of no return, posting, "If you are only beginning to worry now, you are part of the problem. The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The best time to stop Hitler was in 1923. The best time to stop Trump was 2016. Now the professors are leaving. Soon, the stampede. Moving to Canada? Might not be safe much longer."

Journalist Etan Nechin views Stanley's departure from the U.S. as a troubling sign.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Nechin wrote, "Philosopher Jason Stanley leaving Yale for Canada 'because of the political climate' should set off serious alarm bells. 'Brain drain' is just a sanitized phrase meaning the flight of conscience and intellect from a country where probing at truths becomes a dangerous task."

On X, PBS' "Amanpour & Company" posted video of an interview in which Stanley discussed his decision to leave the U.S.

The professor/author told 'Amanpour & Company''s Michele Martin, "I would not do this if I saw all of our universities banding together. But it's not just the universities, Michele. It's the law firms, it's all of our American institutions…. Now, we see universities, including my university, saying things like: We're going to keep our head down so we're not targeted. As soon as I heard that vocabulary, I knew, sort of, it might be that the game is over. Because you're not banding together if you say, 'We're going to keep our head down.'"