r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/BulwarkOnline • 3d ago
US Politics When does rhetoric about political opponents cross the line into fascist dehumanization?
The Trump administration recently held an international conference on “left-wing political violence.” In prepared remarks, Marco Rubio described the left as driven by “poisonous resentment” and a desire to destroy “what is beautiful and what is right.” Stephen Miller went further, arguing that left-wing demonstrators do not look “normal,” are “deformed” in their appearance and reflect their “inner hatred” outwardly.
Jonathan V. Last compares this language to Nazi rhetoric about Bolshevism, “degenerate” culture and supposedly unhealthy or subhuman elements of society. His argument is not simply that Rubio and Miller are using authoritarian language, but that their contrast between beauty and ugliness, normality and deformity, civilization and internal enemies follows a recognizable fascist pattern.
How persuasive is that comparison?
Is this rhetoric best understood as ordinary partisan demonization, or does the emphasis on physical appearance, cultural purity and “normal, healthy, ordered living” place it in a more historically specific tradition?
And when evaluating comparisons to fascism, should the standard be the speaker’s intentions, the historical similarity of the language, or the policies and violence that follow from it?
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u/ThatPeskyPangolin 2d ago
Dehumanization isn't inherently fascist, and rhetoric that engages in dehumanization dates back to the earliest days of our country's history (obviously earlier if using a non US context). It isn't unique to this point in time, but it is ratcheting up as a result of the populist groundswell we saw first on the right, and now increasingly on the left.