In Fear of Trump
Are Trump's abuses really all that new? | OPINIONS
THE GREAT ACADEMIC EXODUS
Harvard and Yale’s finest, the philosophy docs and fascism nerds, are stuffing their tweed jackets into suitcases as we speak, hightailing it to Canada like their face just made the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted.
This past April, Yale Philosophy Professor and expert in fascism Jason Stanley talked to NPR in an interview titled “Why this Yale professor is fleeing America.” In that interview, Stanley announced that he was packing his bags and moving his family to Canada because he sees the Trump administration as trying to “take down democracy.”1
He’s not alone - the New York Times piled on to that sentiment in May with an article titled “We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S,” featuring interviews from multiple professors and experts on authoritarianism across the US. In that article, they too blamed the Trump administration as the reason why they were leaving to take up positions outside the country, comparing it to a sinking Titanic:
“We’re like people on the Titanic saying our ship can’t sink,” [Professor Shore] said. “And what you know as a historian is that there is no such thing as a ship that can’t sink.”2
These are the canaries in the coal mine, we’re told, the intellectual sentinels who sniff out authoritarianism like bloodhounds hunting the scent. And now, they’re bailing out, saying that the US is in teetering on the brink of fascism.
It’s a hell of a story - but it raises an uncomfortable question.
Why now?
If the argument is that the United States is entering the beginnings of fascism, one might ask why these experts believe it started only with Trump - either in 2016 or his return in 2025.
Because if the criteria is government overreach, repression of dissent, or erosion of civil liberties, America didn’t cross those lines recently. If that’s the case for leaving, well, the “fascism experts” are late to the game. When we started, say, torturing our suspected enemies, or warrantlessly wiretapping people - which is arguably much more frightening and characteristic of fascist regimes throughout history than much of what Trump’s done - it probably would have been a good time to leave then.
So why are these “experts” only now clutching their pearls? Well, if I had to guess, probably because Trump’s too crass to hide the decay we’ve all been ignoring for decades. We are not “backsliding” into anything - we’ve been descending in authoritarianism for quite some time.
THE GREATEST HITS
The claim that the U.S. is backsliding into authoritarianism under Trump assumes a relatively recent departure from democratic norms. But America’s flirtation with authoritarianism didn’t start with Trump’s golden escalator ride in 2015.
Let’s rewind the tape - we can start with The PATRIOT Act, rammed through in 2001 just 45 days after the Twin Towers fell. “No one has really had an opportunity to look at the bill to see what is in it,” said Rep. Bobby Scott.3
Regardless, the bill overwhelmingly passed Congress. Overnight, the government could snoop through your emails, tap your phones, and check what library books you borrowed - all without a warrant. “National security” and fear of a second 9/11 was the justification for shoving the Fourth Amendment in a shredder.
Then the Bush administration’s CIA built a network of “black sites” where torture methods, like sleep deprivation or waterboarding - “enhanced interrogation” - were used to extract confessions or valuable intelligence. The Senate’s 2014 Torture Report, which the CIA hacked Senate computers to get ahead of time, concluded that at least 119 detainees, 26 of which were wrongfully held, were tortured in ways more reminiscent of the Spanish Inquisition than a free and open society.4
Obama, the hope-and-change messiah, kept a “kill list” that turned drone strikes into a Tuesday afternoon routine - weddings, funerals, entire villages reduced to rubble in places like Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia.5 The New York Times reported in a 2012 article titled “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will” that Obama personally signed off on targets, including American citizens like Anwar al-Awlaki and his sixteen-year-old son - no trial needed.6
And Guantanamo Bay? Still open, despite campaign promises.
The NSA’s PRISM program, exposed by Edward Snowden in 2013, slurped up every digital crumb you left online. Texts, calls, nudes; it was all fair game. It drew comparisons to the Gestapo, Stalin, and the East German Stasi - and it’s still going on, by the way.
And whistleblowers? Obama’s DOJ prosecuted more under the Espionage Act than all prior administrations combined.7 Chelsea Manning spent years in solitary confinement; John Kiriakou blew the whistle on CIA torture, only to end up the only person prosecuted in connection with the program; Julian Assange rotted in legal limbo, afraid to step outside the Ecuadorian Embassy lest he face extradition to America, until he finally gave himself up in 2019.
On the specific topic of politically-motivated deportations, which has made waves in recent weeks, even that is not completely new. The recent deportations of pro-Palestinian activists draws eerie comparisons, going past the post-9/11 era and into the ‘70s, to when the FBI under a vindictive Nixon notoriously devoted millions of dollars and hundreds of manhours in a futile attempt to get John Lennon deported for his anti-Vietnam War efforts.8 Their tactics included around the clock surveillance and the tapping of Lennon’s phone lines, for essentially nothing other than trying finding to find reason to ship the loudmouth back off to jolly old England. And Lennon was far from the only one.
Trump’s playbook? It’s his “Ignition remix.” Trump’s less inventing American authoritarianism than he is just the latest face. The face of an administration like Obama’s was charismatic, diplomatic; Trump’s is ugly and insensitive.
THE OPTICS OF OUTRAGE
Critics of Trump argue that his actions are not merely a continuation of past policies, but a distinct, qualitative shift. And on specific policy, I would be inclined to agree: take Trump’s attacks on higher education, unilaterally ending virtually all foreign aid, or laying off thousands of federal workers for pretty much no reason in violation of federal law, for instance. The events of January 6th and their aftermath are also a pretty big deal, putting it lightly. Yet, this perspective risks overlooking how past policies enabled Trump’s actions.
Trump’s second term immigration sweeps, which have rounded up thousands and dumped them in El Salvador, look brutal. But, by the numbers, Obama deported more - 2.5 million people, earning the nickname “deporter-in-chief” from The Atlantic.9 Indefinite detention? Trump can, and has, used it to detain immigrants, without trial, for as long as he wants - baked into legislation like the 2011 NDAA, signed by Obama.10 Extraordinary rendition? Bush’s brainchild, continued through the Obama and Biden administrations, right up until Trump began using it to send migrants to El Salvador’s “Terrorism Confinement Center” and Guantanamo Bay, of all places.1112
So, what truly makes Trump look so different to these experts, then? Why are the professors bolting now?
Well, to quote Marshall McLuhan: “the medium is the message.”
Trump’s brashness and general disregard of public perception has made “the medium” - how he communicates - appear rather ugly in many corners of America, and by extension, “the message.” But on paper? The message is not particularly special. You gave up all these rights a long time ago. The difference is not the existence of these powers, but Trump’s willingness to wield them brazenly and without rhetorical restraint.
So why are you complaining now?
People who once dismissed concerns with "Oh, the government would never do that" and placed their trust in the government essentially with an IOU ("pretty please don't abuse this power") are now changing their tune because it's now become readily apparent the government would, in fact, do that. Why now? Because now it’s the professor’s friends on the no-fly list. Their tweets getting flagged. Their jobs and grants at stake.
And unfortunately, the only way the American people seem to take civil liberties infringement seriously is often when they begin to brush against hot-button, emotion-driven, identity-based issues; illegal immigration, gender theory, or charges of systemic American racism all come to mind.
For example, many tried to warn the public in the early 2010s about the militarization of police following the drawdown and eventual US troop withdrawal from Iraq. As the war came to a close, the Pentagon quickly realized that much of the equipment on its hands had outlived its usefulness. The easiest way to get rid of them, of course, was to give them to someone else, someone they trusted; and so they began to offload these leftovers to police stateside, such as MRAP armored vehicles and grenade launchers, usually completely for free.
The natural effect of this was that, as police began to receive tools less suitable for a local police force and more of an occupying army, they began to act that way, too. Suddenly, towns with populations of 500 began to see aggressive SWAT police rolling around in armored vehicles built to withstand the blasts of Iraqi IEDs to bust a couple of methheads, with deadly consequences. Of course, the issue was only seriously confronted in the aftermath of the George Floyd incident in 2020, when widespread questioning of longstanding police policies and abuses became front and center on the national stage in relation to race.
Police militarization, like some of Trump’s policies, mirrors a long-standing trend of prioritizing state power over civil liberties, ignored by many - unless it becomes about identity.
Maybe if Obama had only accidentally drone-strike’d a black, gay illegal alien that escaped from a CIA blacksite that he located through illegal wiretaps, could we have seen some real change, but alas.
And many scholars and commentators point to Trump’s open contempt for the press as a sign of creeping fascism.
True, Trump is without precedent in things like his combativeness with reporters, kicking the AP out of morning press briefings, and suing CBS for defamation. Reporters Without Borders went as far to call it “Trump’s war on the press.” But something seems to have been overlooked in the discussion. Trump is not friendly to the press, yes, but Obama did something arguably much worse to the AP: he actually spied on them.
In a 2015 segment from The Week magazine:
“The Associated Press on Monday revealed that the Department of Justice had secretly spied on AP reporters, obtaining two months' worth of telephone records in what was most likely an attempt to crack down on internal leaks.
According to the AP, the Justice Department acquired records for more than 20 different phone lines associated with the news agency — including reporters' cell, office, and home lines — that could affect more than 100 staffers. Calling the move a "massive and unprecedented intrusion," AP President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt demanded that the DOJ explain why it had gone after the records. He also insisted that the government return the phone records and destroy all other copies of them.
"There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of the Associated Press and its reporters," he said in a strongly worded letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.”13
Trump’s combativeness is crude and unlike any president before him, but spying seems far worse. Where were the fascist experts when that was going down? And the same op-ed pages that call Trump a Nazi once laundered Dick Cheney’s lies about WMDs and called torture “enhanced interrogation.” Come on, now.
The experts seem to have ignored such elements to the fascist equation in light of the grand, bombastic circus that is the current administration; that is to say, the criticism towards Trump seems more about his optics than any novel quashing of press freedom. The fascist experts were nowhere to be seen in 2015; now, who’s to stop Trump from taking cues from Obama, or worse?
THE ALARM WE KEEP SNOOZING
It may be tempting to characterize this article as “whataboutism,” but it’s really not. What it should be is a wake-up call.
Things like Trump’s immigration enforcement policies do demonstrate a clear authoritarian streak, particularly with ICE arresting individuals at their immigration hearings while they pursue legal citizenship. Tactics like these, unprecedented in their audacity, demand scrutiny.
It’s also probably important to point out that Trump’s push to end birthright citizenship not only appears unconstitutional but distinctly nationalist, setting it apart from other executive overreaches in the past two decades. His administration’s overt nationalism and populism, absent in prior, recent administrations like Biden or Obama, merits attention. The expansion of executive power under Trump has exacerbated - though not created - the erosion of legislative authority, as Congress continues to largely abdicate its legislative functions. The past three or four presidents, including Trump, have issued numerous day-one executive actions, with Trump being the worst culprit, setting a new record in 2025 - 142 executive orders in the first 100 days.14 This trend fuels the ongoing conflict between the executive and judicial branches we’ve seen over the past year.
But the structure, institutions, and precedent that Trump has used to carry out his policy were not built overnight. It wasn’t even built over four years of his first term. It was built gradually, over decades, brick by brick and layer by layer. I would wager that a sizeable number of the same people who said in response to the NSA spying scandal statements like, "Well, I have nothing to hide" probably feel now that they do, in fact, have something to hide. Given the hostility of the Trump administration and their willingness to throw all unspoken agreements and professionalism out the window, it’s only become obvious to many recently that the government has far too much power in its possession - especially the executive branch. If Trump’s style is alarming, so too should the policy that enabled it.
I am, essentially, begging you to oppose authoritarianism wherever it occurs - even if the guy doing it is polite. Because even if it’s done with good intentions or a classy delivery, authoritarianism always, always comes back to bite us in the ass.
Arguing this point may provoke outrage among some. A lot of Americans disapprove of Trump, and of those who disapprove, their disapproval is very strong. They may extrapolate a piece like this as being a defense of Trump; they couldn’t be further from the truth. Rather, take it as an indictment of almost every modern administration: Trump, Biden, Obama, etc., and, lest we forget, our sleepwalking Congress. The point is not that Trump’s actions are unimportant; Trump’s actions are dangerous, but many of them are not unique.
The current state of democratic affairs in the US is something like a disease; maybe you shrug off the first couple symptoms when they’re not too ugly. Ignore it for too long, though, and you find yourself in the hospital on death’s door.
The academic exodus highlights genuine concerns about Trump’s policies, but it also reveals a selective outrage. The fascist experts point to Trump’s irreverent behaviors as evidence of a dictator in the making, but it seems trivial in any discussion of fascism when past presidents have done arguably much more “fascist” things policy-wise; when they do point to tangible abuses, they’re often abuses where Trump can rely on precedent to back him up.
Arguing that the US is undergoing “a democratic backsliding” in 2025 seems a little like arguing in August 1939 that the Nazi regime was threatening the democratic process in Germany - too little, too late.
Jason Stanley, “Why This Yale Professor Is Fleeing America,” interview by A Martínez & Destinee Adams, NPR, April 1, 2025, https://www.npr.org/2025/04/01/nx-s1-5345769/yale-university-professor-fascism-canada.
New York Times, “We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S.,” New York Times, May 14, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/opinion/yale-canada-fascism.html.
Kate Tummarello, “Debunking the Patriot Act as It Turns 15,” Electronic Frontier Foundation, October 26, 2016, https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/10/debunking-patriot-act-it-turns-15.
Spencer Ackerman, Dominic Rushe, and Julian Borger, “Senate Report on CIA Torture Claims Spy Agency Lied About 'Ineffective' Program,” Guardian, December 9, 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/09/cia-torture-report-released.
Ian Cobain, “Obama’s Secret Kill List – The Disposition Matrix,” Guardian, July 14, 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/14/obama-secret-kill-list-disposition-matrix.
Jo Becker and Scott Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will,” New York Times, May 29, 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/world/obamas-leadership-leadership-in-war-on-will-al-deda.html.
Jon Greenberg, “CNN’s Tapper: Obama Has Used Espionage Act More Than All Previous Administrations,” PolitiFact, January 10, 2014, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/jan/10/jake-tapper/cnns-tapper-obama-has-used-espionage-act-more-all-/.
NPR, “Uncovering the Truth Behind Lennon’s FBI Files,” NPR, October 8, 2010, https://www.npr.org/2010/10/08/130401193/uncovering-the-truth-behind-lennons-fbi-files.
ABC News, “By the Numbers: Obama’s Deportation Policy,” ABC News, October 20, 2016, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/obamas-deportation-policy-numbers/story?id=41715661.
Brian Naylor, “New Trump Policy Would Permit Indefinite Detention of Migrant Families, Children,” NPR, August 21, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/08/21/753062975/new-trump-policy-would-permit-indefinite-detention-of-migrant-families-children.
Camilo Montoya-Galvez, “Trump administration using Guantanamo to detain foreigners from 26 countries, including criminal detainees,” CBS News, July 8, 2025, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-guantanamo-detain-foreigners-from-26-countries/.
Yahoo News. 2025. "Trump resurrects George W. Bush's rendition regime." July 7, 2025. https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-resurrects-george-w-bushs-130006567.html?guccounter=1.[](https://www.yahoo.com//)
Jon Terbush, “Why Did the Obama Administration Spy on the Associated Press?,” The Week, May 13, 2013, https://theweek.com/articles/464430/why-did-obama-administration-spy-associated-press.
Fin-Daniel Gomez and Annie Bryson, “Trump sets executive order record in his first 100 days,” CBS News, April 29, 2025, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-first-100-days-executive-order-record/