The Guardian: The deep historical forces that explain Trump's win

[Martin Eden]

12. Agree, except the last paragraph.

We are indeed sliding into fascism, but the conditions in Germany leading to the rise of Adolf Hitler versus the rise of Donald Trump are qualitatively different.

Germany had suffered a costly military defeat in 1918, made worse by the humiliating terms of the Versailles treaty which included huge reparations. Then the worldwide Depression struck. The German people endured economic hardships far beyond the pandemic downturn and inflation.

The American people had far less excuse to embrace a demagogue like Trump, especially after his mishandling of the pandemic and the remarkable recovery engineered by the Biden administration.

The difference in 21st century America is the growing share of the media landscape owned by rightwing propaganda, and algorithims on social media spreading disinformation.

IMO the biggest reason Trump won is that tens of millions of voters have been manipulated into believing things that simply are not true.