Fascist tactics employed by His Felonious Royal Malignancy, Dementia J. Trump:

1. Elevating the will of the charismatic leader over the rule of law (e.g. handing out pardons to his criminal co-conspirators)

2. Suspending or Ignoring the Constitution (e.g. locking up children in cages)

3. Supporting a well-oiled propaganda machine (e.g. giving interviews to Fox "News," OAN, posting or re-posting lies on"Truth" Social and Twitter, etc.)

4. Scapegoating a less powerful minority group (e.g. calling immigrants "vermin," saying they are "poisoning the blood of our country." )

5. Refusing to accept the results of elections he loses (e.g. 2016 popular vote, 2020 popular vote and electoral college.)

6. Threatening, using, or refusing to disavow violence as a means for obtaining or maintaining political power (e.g. inciting a mob to attack the US Capitol to stop the certification of Biden's 2020 electoral win)

7. Packing government with sycophants and yes-men (e.g. Stephen Miller, Jeffrey Clark, Kelly Anne Conway, Bill Barr)

8. Supporting other fascists and autocrats around the world (e.g. Vladimir Putin, Victor Orbán, Jair Bolsonaro)

9. Whipping up fear with lies and demagoguery (e.g. his 2017 "American carnage" inauguration speech, and it goes downhill from there)

10. Falsely claiming that he alone can "fix it." (e.g. promising to create the "best" economy ever, then adding 7.5 TRILLION DOLLARS to the national debt by a giving huge tax break to the rich )

11. Lying, doubling down on lies, and repeating lies ad nauseam (The Washington Post's fact-checkers documented 30,573 false or misleading claims during his presidential term, an average of about 21 per day.)

12. Never admitting to a having made a mistake (e.g. he never even tried to walk back his suggestion that people could take bleach internally to cure COVID)

13. Demonizing political opponents or anyone who questions his authority (e.g. judges, prosecutors, juries, grand juries, witnesses, experts, historians, scientists, journalists, generals, etc.)

14. Pandering to the base; telling them whatever they want to hear (e.g. referring to masks during the pandemic, he said, "I won't be wearing one" )

15. Claiming to be persecuted; playing the victim (e.g. "They're coming after me to get to you," and, speaking about his various trials, "it's so unfair," and "it's a witch hunt" )

16. Producing rhetoric and policies centered on grievance (e.g. "I will build a wall," and "I will repeal Obamacare" )

17. Overwhelming the electorate with chaos and lies (e.g. Trump was the only president to be impeached twice; he routinely issued illegal executive orders that had to be struck down by courts; he moved the headquarters of the EPA for no reason other than to encourage scientists to quit)

18. Filling the zone with shit (the goal is to get people to distrust everything they see and hear)

19. Denigrating and casting aspersions on all institutions that use evidence to establish facts
    (i.e. the electoral system, calling it "rigged," falsely accusing election workers of corruption; the judicial system, calling judges and prosecutors "corrupt, biased;" journalism, calling reporters "fake news, enemies of the people;" academia, calling college professors "eggheads," and "pencil necks;" the military, calling dead soldiers "suckers," and "losers;" and science, insinuating that scientists are incompetent or lying by saying of climate change, "I don't think science really knows."

20. Embracing disinformation and outlandish, wacko conspiracy theories (e.g. Q-Anon, China virus, replacement theory, etc.)

21. Seeing no need for consistency; contradicting himself whenever it suits his immediate needs (e.g. while running against Hillary, he repeatedly said "Lock her up;" now that he's been convicted of felonies, he claims he never said that.)

When people give up trying to keep abreast of the latest Trump infamy (and the usually lengthy process required to debunk any lie) they are primed for the authoritarian/strong man/demagogue/fascist to take charge.