Fintan O’Toole: What would fascism look like in the 2020s?

Our columnist talks to Hugh Linehan about the characteristics of Trump 2.0

Listen | 58:22
People hold a 'No Dictators in the USA' banner while marching in the 2025 'No Kings' protest, a nationwide day of action opposing what organisers saw as authoritarian overreach and threats to democracy under US president Trump.
People hold a 'No Dictators in the USA' banner while marching in the 2025 'No Kings' protest, a nationwide day of action opposing what organisers saw as authoritarian overreach and threats to democracy under US president Trump.

13 months in, Donald Trump’s second term is proving to be a much more radical political project than his first.

On today’s podcast Hugh is joined by Fintan O’Toole to talk about whether the Trump administration’s ideology, use of state power and rhetoric now make comparisons with the fascism of the 20th century appropriate.

What would fascism look like in today’s media, institutional and geopolitical context?

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