President Donald Trump’s administration continues to stand on shaky ground amid bombshell resignations and rumors of a dictatorship brewing. But in the midst of these unprecedented times, one Black political activist’s warning could offer a shocking reality for Americans… even if the message came 55 years earlier.
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Trump’s return to the White House was met with fierce criticism from leaders like former Vice President Kamala Harris and his own former chief of staff, John Kelly, who explicitly declared that Trump fits “into the general definition of fascist.” But while terms like “fascist” and “dictator” have found a comfortable place in American politics today, activists like Angela Davis were among the loudest opponents of fascism nearly six decades ago.
By the 1970s, the Cold War against the Soviet Union revamped fears of a possible fascist regime in the States– notably from many Black Panthers. While awaiting trial for murder, Davis spoke with filmmaker Peter Davis about the likelihood that America would be ruled by a dictator.
“We are closer to fascism than we’ve ever been before,” Davis said from a California prison in 1971. But while the political activist stopped short of declaring fascism had officially made its mark in the U.S. then, her scary prediction has arguably taken a new light in 2026.
The Supreme Court’s previous ruling that U.S. presidents “are entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for certain actions conducted while in office” practically gave President Trump an umbrella excuse to do whatever he wants while sitting in the White House, we told you. On day one, the president signed over 70 executive orders targeting his predecessors and even the Constitution.
According to Davis, a fascist takeover would result in swift changes in society. “Fascism is something which moves and develops, and eventually consolidates itself,” she explained. “Once it consolidates itself, it can no longer be torn down from the inside. It can no longer be destroyed internally.”
The textbook definition of fascism emphasizes extreme nationalism, militarism and suppression of opposition for the benefit of the government. According to The New York Times, Trump’s term back in office fits the category to a T.
Plans to mobilize the military to take down “the enemy from within” came to life in January after three American citizens were shot and killed at the hands of immigration enforcement officers ordered to Minneapolis. Outside of the violence, Trump sending in the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington D.C. while dodging investigations into the controversial filed associated with disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein should be enough to make Americans give pause.
Circling back to Davis now, fascist leaders like Italy’s Benito Mussolini and Germany’s Adolf Hitler understood violence to be necessary for a successful revolution and consequential new government. “If you look at history, you see that there is not one example of a fascist country, having undergone a revolution once it reached the point of consolidation,” Davis added.
It’s in this revolution– this chaos– in which fascists leaders thrive. “There are going to be periods where there’s very intense activity of this form, other periods where there appears to be a lull– often where you have the appearance of a lull that might simply be the moment of regrouping and regathering the kinds of forces that are going to give rise to something much greater and much stronger,” Davis added.
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