Maria Bartiromo of Fox News asked former President Donald Trump on Sunday whether he thought the November election would be peaceful. Bartiromo was specifically referring to “outside agitators,” such as terrorists on the watch list or migrants who Trump keeps falsely insisting are driving up the country’s crime rates.
Trump chose to express a fascistic desire to use the military against his dissenters, or as he termed them, the “radical left lunatics.”
Trump could have said he hoped the election would be peaceful. He could have used that moment in the interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” to call for peace no matter the outcome. He could have even said he has no idea what far-left protesters might do if he wins or what his MAGA base would do if he loses. Instead, Trump chose to express a fascistic desire to use the military against his dissenters, or as he termed them, the “radical left lunatics.”
He said: “I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics.”
Then he added, “It should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary by the military, because they can’t let that happen.” Not only did Trump say this so-called enemy within “is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries,” but he also said some of his political adversaries are enemies of our country, including Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who led the prosecution in Trump’s first impeachment trial and is running for the U.S. Senate.
While Trump won’t be in power on Nov. 5, his authoritarian fantasy of the military handling political dissent and his political adversaries is still a revelation of what could be in store for our country if he ever again becomes commander in chief.
Trump reportedly evaded military service in Vietnam when a podiatrist (who may never have even examined him but reportedly wanted to curry favor with Trump’s father) claimed he had bone spurs. Despite that, when he was president, Trump acted as if our military, in which he didn’t serve, existed to serve him. When protesters filled Lafayette Square across from the White House, Trump allegedly told Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley to “just shoot them.” He then had Milley stride across the square with him as the protesters were tear-gassed. Milley later apologized for accompanying Trump, while he was in full uniform, for what was a political photo-op.
The New York Times reported in August that it had obtained an internal email from the Center for Renewing America that reveals discussions about using troops to “stop riots” by protesters in a second Trump term. (That center is run by Russell Vought, who was Trump’s White House budget chief. Vought helped draft the Republican Party’s 2024 platform and was tapped by the Heritage Foundation to write the chapter on the Executive Office of the President in “Project 2025.”)
When he was president, Trump acted as if our military, in which he didn’t serve, existed to serve him.
Trump has been accused of trying to manipulate the military for his own purpose before. When he was visiting Japan as president, the Navy reported: “A request was made to the U.S. Navy to minimize the visibility of USS John S. McCain,” an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer named for Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the late war hero, and his father and grandfather. That request reportedly came from the White House. Trump, who repeatedly disparaged Sen. McCain and his service, said he didn’t make that request but called whoever did “well-meaning.”
But Trump’s suggesting that the military be used to attack the “enemy within” is far more serious.
While it’s no surprise anymore that Trump disdains the rule of law, using the military in a domestic law enforcement capacity violates America’s Posse Comitatus Act. And Trump’s love affair with the idea of deploying soldiers on a whim isn’t limited to quelling his dissenters. Trump wants to be surrounded by the most elite components of the military when it comes to his own personal security. He recently requested military support, including special forces members, as part of his protection detail.
Former Trump national security adviser and convicted felon Michael Flynn was recently asked whether he’d “sit at the head of a military tribunal to not only drain the swamp but imprison the swamp, and on a few occasions, execute the swamp.”
He replied, “There’s a way to get after this, but we have to win first.”
“These people are already up to no good, so we gotta win first. We win, and then [Katy] bar the door. Believe me, the gates of hell — my hell — will be unleashed.” If you’re hoping Flynn’s star has faded with Trump, think again. Trump says he would bring the disgraced general back in his next administration. Now, with a Supreme Court decision that finds a president has absolute immunity for acts within their core constitutional authorities and presumptive immunity for conduct on the perimeter of official conduct, Trump and his sycophants would have no guardrails between their authoritarian dreams and a nightmare of fascism.
Trump and his sycophants would have no guardrails between their authoritarian dreams and a nightmare of fascism.
If you think I’m being too dramatic or alarmist, I implore you to study how a society slowly slips into fascism. The three recognized pillars of fascism are demonization of domestic enemies, preposterous lies and contempt for domestic institutions — especially elections and the rule of law. Importantly, those pillars, all present in the Trump’s MAGA movement, have historically been bound by an affinity for military values, as reflected in Trump’s vision for our troops.
If you’re on the fence about whether Trump and his followers are headed down the dark path of fascism, don’t take it from me. Ask Gen. Milley, who, according to journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, said Trump is “fascist to the core.” Trump’s core is fully exposed, and it’s rotting in plain sight.