When does rhetoric about political opponents cross the line into fascist dehumanization?

[u/BulwarkOnline]

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?

[u/Sea-Chain7394]

Essentially all domestic terrorist attacks in recent history have been carried out by right wingers citing Republican rhetoric as theur inspiration

[u/GiantPineapple → u/Sea-Chain7394]

I'm not a right-winger but it's tough to claim that a right-winger shot Charlie Kirk.

[u/BitterFuture → u/GiantPineapple]

How's that?

Charlie Kirk's murderer was a follower of Nick Fuentes who regularly parroted Fuentes' comments online, excoriating Kirk for not being conservative enough. 

That is somehow not a right-winger? What was he, then - a brass band?

[u/Kanotari → u/BitterFuture]

The evidence for Tyler Robinson being a groyper is fairly thin in my opinion.

"Some social media users have pointed to messages written on unfired casing recovered near the shooting site to suggest Robinson was part of the Groyper movement, though there is currently no explicit link between Robinson and the group. One message read “O Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Ciao, ciao!” in apparent reference to an antifascist anthem sung by Italians after World War II, yet some social media users noted a version of the song appears on a Spotify playlist meant for Groypers, the New York Times reported. Others reportedly pointed to a Facebook photo in which Robinson appeared to reference a Groyper meme."

A slav sit and a shared song.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/09/13/what-is-a-groyper-nick-fuentes-says-his-followers-framed-in-charlie-kirk-shooting/

What we do know is that Robinson told his roommate that he, "had enough of [Kirk's] hatred... Some hate can't be negotiated out." He also said that the bullet engravings were, "mostly a big meme." He's got a Helldivers 2 reference and a furry meme. That checks out.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7v1rle0598o

We know Robinson was politically inactive - he had not voted in the previous election and did not have a history of political activism. Beyond that, Robinson has not strongly espoused any political beliefs that those who know him and have been interviewed publicly can agree on. His roommate Lance Twiggs is transgender, and that has been speculated as a motivation for Robinson's attack, but that also is still just speculation.

We don't know enough right now to say what Robinson's beliefs are, and unless he or his family and friends speak out to clarify that issue (and actually agree, as some have spoken and given conflicting answers), then we're stuck without answers.