Is Trumpism A Gilded Age Throwback? Does It Matter?

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who is a historian of fascism. He said on the first day of his history of fascism class, he got a question from a student asking if Trump was fascist. He responded that it was an irrelevant and pointless question–it doesn’t actually matter. What he’s doing is terrible and that’s what matters. Moreover, while it’s entirely possible that for Vance and Thiel and Musk, the goal is more about something that looks global fascism, for Donald Trump the goal is his vision of the Gilded Age, both on issues of race and corporate domination.

So, it doesn't matter, but (insert potshot later) it's something else. I'm wary about both sides of that coin. The most important thing is that he's doing something very bad. Nonetheless, it's helpful to understand the nature of what he is doing, partially since it helps in fighting it. Also, it's just good to understand things.

The American author Mark Twain wrote a novel in 1873 entitled The Gilded Age.  The book concerned the greed and corruption of post-Civil War life, which were disguised with a thin coating (gilding) of good times.  The era had a great expansion of industry and growth overall, but also a lot of problems not far underneath.  

Trump clearly promotes that. He is mesmerized (or pretends to be) by tariffs. He wants to honor President McKinley (even though he was stupid enough to be killed) by renaming Mount Denali in Alaska. 

If that was ALL he was doing, it would be bad. It also would be typical Republican economics if somewhat on steroids with extra corruption.

Nonetheless, as people note in comments, that is not all he is doing. The reply is that what he is doing can fit into the period. The problem for me is that the Gilded Age is a certain period known for economic developments. The other stuff overlaps but is not what dominates. Jim Crow, for instance, occurred before and after the Gilded Age. It was not its driver.

Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology that gives total control to the government, usually under a strong leader. Ruth Ben-Ghiat's book discusses the "strongman" (and they usually are men) concept. 

This is a significant part of Trump's brand and current activities, including the person he chose for Secretary of Defense. Heather Cox Richardson, as usual, provides some good details.  

How is the Gilded Age brand explanatory here? Nazism, on the other hand, provides some more understanding of the cultural and leadership model of the current Administration. 

MAGA is a white Christian nationalist ideology that overlapped with the Gilded Age but Nazism is a much more apt metaphor. Other things fit in including sexism. Again, such things existed in the Gilded Age but they did not dominate. It was an economic age. 

Trump does not only care about Gilded Age economic ends. The strongman model is his brand. He is a bully and needs total control. He uses cultural issues and symbolism to promote his ends. 

Some he more instrumental (he doesn't really care about abortion) than others (like father, like son on the racist front). And, as someone notes, Nazism is often useful as a metaphor since people know more about it. It is more visceral.

Knee-jerk boy says in comments it doesn't matter AT ALL if you use "Nazi" in messaging. I truly doubt it. People are concerned about certain things and "Nazi" is such a common term since it has a certain cachet. It might not matter as much as we want. It does matter. 

Musk also does not appear to merely "look" like a fascist. He has cultural (trans) and other concerns that are more than a Gilded Age throwback. 

Vance also has cultural baggage. I am less aware of Thiel and maybe he is more Gilded Age. It doesn't matter. If we look at Trumpism as a whole, it is not just about the Gilded Age.

A few comments noted that the whole thing is partially about the Gilded Age. That's fine. A standard rule of mine is that it usually is not "merely" about "one" thing. We should understand the complexity of the situation.

The whole story is more than the Gilded Age. It very well looks fascist with some Nazi aspects (Elon Musk even gave a Nazi salute!). Also, though I do not want to put everything in one box, industrial forces worked with Nazis too. Nazi might have "socialist" in its name but big business (including using forced labor) played a big role.

So, "why not both.gif" along with "only one is far incomplete."