Donald Trump is in Cognitive Decline & Fascism Incline

And that means increased harm for the American people, and the world, but we can still stop it

The GOP nominee for President has always been racist. This is not a controversial statement. From his time denying rental apartments to Black tenants, to his time calling to execute five innocent Black and Latino youth, to proudly proclaiming "Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day,” to his repeated condemnations of Mexicans, Muslims, and immigrants—racist is what Trump has always been. Now in clear cognitive decline, Donald Trump is leaning into that racism to rally his base. We cannot give him a pass as doing so further enables fascism to take hold of our democracy. Let’s Address This.

In these final days of the election season, Donald Trump believes his ticket to the White House is through demonization of minority communities. Most recently Donald Trump invoked a law from the 1700s—one used to justify locking up hundreds of thousands of Americans of Japanese descent into concentration camps—to claim he would commit similar atrocities against immigrants if reelected. Trump wrote, "To expedite removals of this savage gang, I will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target and dismantle ever migrant criminal network operating on American Soil."

In 1988, the US Congress formally apologized to Japanese Americans for the atrocities committed against them. Donald Trump well recalls that moment, because it was around that time that he was calling for the execution of the Central Park 5, despite their innocence. Perhaps most frightening is Trump’s influence on the masses. FEMA reports that extremists, inspired by Trump’s disinformation surrounding Hurricane relief, prevented them from delivering aid under threat of violence. Trump of course claimed FEMA was out of money because it was spent on immigrants. As I documented in detail, Trump is lying.

In additional to his racism in general, antisemitism remains at the heart of Trump’s hate. At an RNC boat parade in Jupiter, Florida just this week, actual Nazis proudly participated while screaming “White Power,” “Hail Trump,” and “Make America White Again.” Donald Trump’s own family participated in this same boat parade. The RNC, meanwhile, has not condemned these Nazis, nor disavowed them from the parade. I suppose conventional wisdom is it is unwise to condemn your Party nominees strongest supporters.

Meanwhile, Trump’s cognitive decline has resulted in an unprecedented cancellation of public appearances, debates, and interviews. For the first time in half a century, a party nominee for President cancelled their 60 Minutes primetime interview.

In a recent rally/town hall, Donald Trump took just five questions. He then inexplicably spent the next 30 minutes dancing to music by leaning back and forth. Surprising no one, the New York Times sane-washed his bizarre behavior as “it was more enjoyable.” The continued failure of legacy media to hold Donald Trump accountable is one of the biggest threats to our democracy.

Trump is even refusing friendly outlets. He’s formally rejected a second debate against Kamala Harris, even though it would have been hosted by Fox News. Clearly, Trump’s handlers realize they cannot allow him to face any form of meaningful scrutiny. And given how devastatingly he was manhandled at the first debate against Harris, he’s perhaps choosing self-preservation.

Donald Trump has always, and exclusively, cared about Donald Trump. It is no surprise that he left thousands of followers stranded in the desert in California after a late night rally. This isn’t a surprise to anyone not in the MAGA cult, but it is another example of what he would do should he re-enter the White House. That is, look out for himself and make decisions to benefit him and his family, not the American people.

In the final weeks of the Presidential election, expect Trump to yet further lean into racism and fascism. His hope is to inspire his base to turn out in larger numbers, particularly in swing states, so he can ultimately lead the comprehensive implementation of Project 2025. We cannot let that happen. As I’ve written before, Project 2025 is the end of democracy in America, and the unholy consecration of fascism. Legacy media continues to under react to Trump’s extremism, and we are all worse off for it. Therefore, make sure you have a plan to vote, bring your friends with you, and let us defeat fascism on November 5. Then the real work begins to save our democracy and humanity.