What is Trumpism?

I joked the other day that Trump is no fascist because he doesn’t have the discipline to be a fascist.  The point, though, is that, even if he lacks the focus and the work ethic of a fascist, his instincts and attitudes are plenty fascistic.  Or maybe it’s better perhaps to use the word “authoritarian” and leave it at that. Trumpism is, among other things, a new phenomenon in world history: a system of international corporate and finance authoritarianism, masked by a transparently specious pseudo-populism. It is frankly, cynically, winkingly hucksterish. What's remarkable is that so many people revel in the hucksterism, the undeniable (and barely denied!) balderdash. And by “people” I mean Trump supporters who know he’s lying to everybody, even to them.

Ah - but perhaps they feel themselves to be in on the joke, or the con, or whatever it is. They love and identify with his power; their adulation and support are means of appropriating a portion of his power. That is the magic - or, rather, the malicious alchemy - of fascism right there. The promise that those who identify with the leader partake of his greatness, which is to say his power. It's intoxicating.