If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. Such is the case with Donald Trump’s political advisor, Stephen Miller. Well, to be completely clear, he is not a duck (the world would be a happier place if he were) but a textbook fascist.
This isn’t really up for debate. Fascism is a combination of ultranationalism, authoritarianism, militarism, anti-liberalism, scapegoating of minorities, cult of leadership, and anti-egalitarianism – all of which describe Miller’s politics to a tee.
The only real argument for Miller being an extremely far-right populist rather than a fascist is that he operates within a democracy rather than a dictatorship. To which we can only reply. “Yeah, for now“.
Gavin Newsom’s press office is done tiptoeing around the word, taking to X to simply say “STEPHEN MILLER IS A FASCIST!”. Miller responded, “Why do you think they posted this?”, only for the press office to respond: “because you’re a fascist”. Fair enough!
because you’re a fascist
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) September 27, 2025
It’s perhaps telling that at this point Miller doesn’t even bother to deny that he’s a fascist. When he’s busy making extraordinarily fascistic speeches, part of an administration that’s gleefully cracking down on free speech, launching military attacks against domestic cities, and snatching people off the street and imprisoning them in concentration camps, why bother?
He knows he’s a fascist, we know he’s a fascist, everyone knows he’s a fascist. Perhaps the only piece of the puzzle missing is for him to simply embrace the label and admit, “yeah, I’m a fascist, so what?”.
And so what if he did?
In ordinary times, an admission like that would kill any political career stone dead, but if you haven’t noticed, we don’t live in normal times. It’s depressingly likely that if Miller came out of the fascist closet, MAGA would have a few seconds of cognitive dissonance before deciding that, actually, being a fascist is the coolest thing imaginable.
Some in the comments argue that Newsom’s office using this word is essentially an incitement to violence. After all, one of the U.S.’s proudest historical moments was taking the fight to fascists in World War II and ending their nightmarish reign of terror in Europe. But, frankly, if Stephen Miller would rather people stop calling him a fascist, then he should stop doing and saying fascist things every single day of his life.
