Results: The Republican Party embraces Fascism, Part one

Even before last fall's national election, President Trump was seeding anti-democratic sentiment in the Republican Party about a "rigged election". Democracies are based on the premise that their citizens have a say in their governance with free and fair elections. Even though there is no evidence of wide spread voter fraud, Republicans have embraced an authoritarian President Trump's "big lie" that he was legitimately elected President of the United States (POTUS) last November and Joe Biden isn't the real POTUS. Do you believe that Donald Trump was legitimately re-elected POTUS?

Fascism started in the 20th century with Italy's Mussolini and Germany's Hitler. Mussolini was handed power in Italy thanks to the violence and general chaos brought on by his paramilitary Blackshirts. Hitler's Brownshirts used similar tactics in Germany. Donald Trump's re-election campaign organized a "Save America Rally" at the National Mall on Jan 6, 2021, where he encouraged his supporters (which included rightwing paramilitary groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers) to go to the US Capitol building to "stop the steal" and over twenty times he told them to fight. Hundreds of Trump's supporters violently assaulted the nation's Capitol where Congress was certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Among the crowd's battle cries were, "Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump!", "Where's Nancy" and "Hang Mike Pence". Did Donald Trump incite this violence with his supporters?

One of Donald Trump's assaults on objective facts was to label main stream media, "fake news". Immediately after he was inaugurated in Jan., 2017, one of Trump's principal aides, Kellyanne Conway, called Trump's version of reality "alternative facts." His supporters and rightwing media quickly started using these reality defying terms when defending Trump's corruption, his thousands of lies and blatant dishonesty. "The problem with this thinking, of course, is that reality — whether it's climate change, or a pandemic or the results of an election is still objectively true". Have the Republican Party, Donald Trump and his supporters rejected objective truth for their own alternative reality?

Donald Trump rejected many established presidential norms and modern American values. He vilified Muslims and immigrants of color, refused to release his tax returns, appointed the fewest women and minorities in his administration in recent memory, defended white supremacists, demeaned and alienated our traditional allies (i.e. NATO partners) and promoted our historical adversaries like Russia, China and North Korea. On numerous occasions, Trump tried to politicize the US Military and all levels of law enforcement. He used his Attorney Generals Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr to investigate and attack his political foes. Trump refused to separate himself from his family business that made millions of dollars from the US taxpayers, political allies, foreign countries and many business entities trying to curry favors from the Trump administration. Did the Republican Party allow Donald Trump to place his personal and political interests ahead of the American people's needs?

Mussolini's Italy outlawed contraception, and both his regime and Hitler's banned abortion. "Not all abortion opponents are fascists, but all fascists oppose abortion". Donald Trump made it a priority to stack the US Supreme Court with Justices that would eliminate women's reproductive rights by overturning Roe v Wade. Does the modern Republican Party treat women like second class citizens by undermining their right to healthcare, including abortions?