Objective NPR goes there; compares Trump to Mussolini

It is trivially easy to find noted "academics" to compare Republicans politicians and policies to fascism.

They all forget that if their comparisons were correct, they would be in gulags, against the walls, or simply disappeared.

NPR might as well just ask the nearest antifa what they think. But, NPR is trying to promote a narrative, and enough people still have a high enough opinion of "intellectuals" that their gambit might pay off, at the cost of a massive hit to their already plummeting credibility if it doesn't.

As the article points out it was a comparison that existed before he even entered into the presidential race in 2016. I was always reminded of a Hitchens interview in the early 90s, and the close connection between a sort of "putting the country back on it's track and run it like a business" rhetoric and fascism[1]

A somewhat more obscure version of this archetype is Armstrong in the Metal Gear series, Kojima really was oddly prophetic with some of his games.

[1]https://youtu.be/j1MynYJDyE0

It's a good comparison.

The article is based on book and interview by historians studying fascism.