"Polite society warns against the drawing of certain historical parallels. But as another tumultuous year of Donald Trump’s presidency draws to a close, it seems like a good time to ask: Where does one look for a political equivalent in a yearwhen the president’s supporters chanted 'send her back' about a nonwhite member of Congress?" wrote Scarborough. "Should we attach a bland labellike 'illiberalism' to such awretched public display when 'fascism' fits so much better? And what term best describes a 2019 political rally where a U.S. president, who had previously suggested the shooting of migrants, laughed as a supporter shouted that they should be gunned down at the border?"
"Even during his political ascent, Republican and Democratic leaders alike shared Sen. Lindsey O. Graham’s view that the future president was a clown who had neither the character nor intelligence to be America’s next commander in chief," wrote Scarborough. "But elites’ failure to grasp Trump’s appeal, then and now, made him a greater threat to the natural checks and balances of Madisonian democracy."
"One should never compare Trump’s rise directly to that of German fascism, and still thereare lessons that can be drawnfrom every era," continued Scarborough. "Sebastian Haffner’s 1939 memoir 'Defying Hitler' spoke of influencers who initially dismissed the Nazi party for its 'violent stupidity,' much like Trump’s critics mocked the reality star’s candidacy with a chuckle. The 'Saturday Night Live' skit with Hillary Clinton laughing at her good fortunefor drawing Trump as apolitical opponent comes to mind. 'I was inclined not to take them very seriously,' Haffner wrote in 1939, 'a common attitude among their inexperienced opponents, which helped them a lot.' The German journalist and lawyer observed that while the 'vilest abuse' could be directed toward Jews, 'the process of the law was not changed at all.'"
"Before his passing, The Post’s Charles Krauthammer wrote that 'the sinews of our democracy' were still holding 'against the careening recklessness of this presidency,'" wrote Scarborough. "Whether those institutions can hold firm through a second Trump term remains an open question. Ever the optimist, I suspect that a country that, during the 20th century alone, survived numerous financial crises, the Great Depression and two world wars while also beating back the spread of Nazism and Soviet Communism, can survive four more years of Trump. But why tempt fate?"
"I knew Trump fairly well before he entered politics," wrote Scarborough. "Likemany, I saw him first as a cartoonish figure, colorful but innocuous. Then I saw him as an entertainer, superficial but engaging. Then I saw him as a threat, appealing but erratic. Then, at last, I saw this reality TV president as a malevolent character, inspiring fascist chants while proving to be more hapless than any of his 43 predecessors. All versions of Trump have been cynical and manipulative, but his latest incarnation has proved to be destructive to his party, his country and the world."
"Though you may not know Trump as I once did, you do know that only a weak man speaks endlessly of his strength and only an ignorant man brags incessantly of his wisdom," concluded Scarborough. "Despite these debilitating flaws, or perhaps because of them, Adm. William McRaven — the man who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden — believes Donald Trump is the greatest threat facing American democracy. How voters respond to that danger in the new year may well determine the arc of our future for a generation to come."
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