Cheri Jacobus is a Republican. She graduated from the University of West Virginia with a degree in journalism and styles herself as a political strategist and pundit. She worked for GOP campaigns, did TV commentary on politics, and was a Republican National Committee media spokesperson.
Jacobus is controversial; see, e.g., story here about why USA Today dropped her. She calls herself a “Never Trumper,” sued him for defamation, and lost (see story here).
In a Salon article here, she doesn’t say Trump is a fascist, or that he’ll kill you. She says, “Trump is an unbelievably evil human being. I believe that he is one of the most evil people that we’ve ever seen in American public life.”
Masha Gessen (bio here) has been described as “Russia’s leading LGBT activist,” except she lives in America now. She wrote an essay for New York Review of Books about Trump in 2016 (read it here). In it, she wrote, “Trump is anything but a regular politician,” then expounded on her “Rule #1” for living under autocracy, which she has personal experience with, having lived in Putin’s Russia. That rule is: “Whenever you find yourself thinking, or hear others claiming, that he is exaggerating, believe the autocrat. He means what he says.”
That brings me to Chauncey DeVega, a black guy who writes for Salon and has a podcast. He says (here) if you’ve voted for Democrats, “Donald Trump wants to put you in prison. That may sound preposterous, but these are are not idle threats.” He doesn’t say Trump will kill you, although he does say:
“Trump is actually threatening — or, more precisely, promising — to put his political opponents and others who dare to oppose him in prison, or to subject them to some even worse fate, if he manages to regain the presidency.”
(Emphasis added.) And while he doesn’t call Trump a “fascist” directly, DeVega does allude to “autocrats and tyrants,” and “fascists and other authoritarians,” in a decidedly “Trumpian” context, and mentions in passing that such leaders “find ways to disappear people.” Well, yes he does call Trump a fascist; after quoting Gessen’s “Rule #1,” he writes:
“As I and numerous others have repeatedly observed, demagogues, autocrats and tyrants typically tell you what they are going to do and then do it. They do not conceal their goals or motivations, and they are not kidding. One does not need to be an expert in semiotics or linguistics to decode what Trump and other fascists are saying. The meaning is clear for anyone who chooses to pay attention.”
And having put Trump in that basket, it’s pretty clear he thinks Trump might (I’m not say will) “disappear” those “who dare to oppose him.” Well, we do know Trump is all about seeking vengeance, and he did speak of standing in the street and shooting somebody. And he surrounded himself with people like John Eastman, Steve Bannon, and Michael Flynn who speak of and plot coups and military coups.
None of these three writers is a big name in the journalistic, academic, or political worlds; but the evidence for what they say is in front of your eyes.
During the weekend of August 5-7, 2022, the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) held a convention in Dallas, Texas; and featured speakers included Trump, Bannon, and Hungary’s fascist dictator Viktor Orbán. DeVega quoted from their speeches.
Trump said “our country is being destroyed” by “radical left socialist lunatics” and “we have to hit them very, very hard.” Bannon said, “We are at war,” and the GOP must “pursue absolute victory” and “shatter the Democratic Party.” Orban condemned “mixed race” nations and spoke of the coming elections as “fronts in the battle being fought for Western civilization.”
DeVega wraps up his article by saying:
“These are not hollow threats. … Trump, his followers and the larger American fascist movement are announcing their plans to retaliate and seek revenge against Joe Biden, the Democrats, Attorney General Merrick Garland and all others they target as un-American traitors. The American people would be wise not to take these threats lightly. This is not a game or a joke …. American democracy continues to be imperiled by Trump and his movement, and they will not stop until they succeed in replacing it with their own version of fascism, carrying a cross and wrapped in a flag.”
No mincing of words here. DeVega sure is calling Trump a fascist. And while he doesn’t come right out and say Trump will kill you, he sure implies it. The only question is whether you believe him. And in that respect, all he’s asking you to do is believe what Trump and those near to him are saying. Remember Rule #1.