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Presidential candidates should abhor political violence, not just oppose it but vehemently, and sincerely understand the evil in tacit consent. Where is the Oval Office saying: “We have differences, but never, never, never is violence the answer.” Nowhere.

One begins to wonder, as Democrats call Trump fascist, what are we living through?  Whether misunderstanding history or choosing to misread it, Democrats extend a fiction started by Liz Cheney, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and media outlets: Donald Trump is somehow Hitler.

The concept of making a former President Hitler, or anything vaguely approaching the definition of “fascist,” would be laughable if not adolescent, reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous.

Let me lay out FIVE facts. Every disaffected Republican and Democrat – including those who have gone crazy mischaracterizing a flamboyant American politician, including someone once respected, General John Kelly – should stop, read these facts, and then push non-violence.

First, bottom line up front: Donald Trump is not a fascist. Not only has he led with respect for the public will, laws, traditions, institutions, minorities, courts, legislative prerogatives, subjecting himself to political impeachments and legal miscarriages, but he advocates limited government, diffusion of power, states’ rights, individual liberties, not concentrated power.

This is the opposite of a fascist. While he qualifies as a populist, some of our greatest presidents were that, drawing their power from “the people,” not “elites.” They include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and a raft in the late 1890s, like Democrat William Jennings Bryan, later Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan, and now Donald Trump. “Populism,” rejects elites; it is not fascism.

Second, to hear words like fascist bandied about – used by Biden, Harris, Hillary Clinton, and faintly the likes of John Kelly, major media, is to normalize the abnormal, throw history away, cheapen the definition, forget the horrors.

To miscast Donald Trump – or any American political figure – as Hitler, Mussolini, or Stalin – is to disgrace the victims of fascism, just like soft-pedaling Chinese communism, ignoring reality.

Let me speak bluntly, as someone who has stood silently, alone, horrified in the Auschwitz death camp, in the gas chambers where six million Jews were murdered, seen the crematorium, all but vomited. Let me speak as someone who was behind the Iron Curtain. This talk is irresponsible.

Let me be specific. When Biden, Harris, Clinton, Walz, Pelosi, and ironically Schumer – call Trump a fascist, they have no idea what they are saying or do not care. Hitler killed six million Jews, by extermination. He started a war that killed 85 million. He liked wars.

Trump has killed no one, and does not like wars, or unnecessary interventions – the kind predecessors pushed. He disdains appeasement of the sort Biden-Harris pushed, starting wars.

Trump does not like the concentration of power, even if he appreciates names in lights. He has advocated stronger defense, fewer wars, smaller government, lower taxes, higher growth, For every minority, women, safe streets, stable foreign policy, and accountability. He has kept his word. He abides by deterrence, not appeasement. That does not make him a fascist.  

Third, having once served as Colin Powell’s Assistant Secretary of State – charged with restoring the rule of law to places overrun by lawlessness, terrorists, narcotraffickers, autocrats, communists, and those with no respect for fair elections, I can tell you Donald Trump represents the opposite. 

Trump’s policies, if not his genetic make-up, are not about disrespect for the Constitution, personal coercion, illicit money-making, terrorizing, jailing opponents, harassing parents, churches, Jewish temples, girls, or free speech. He is about liberties, not mandates, or history.

Fourth, since January 6^th’s hoodlums-run-wild day, Democrats want to hang it on Trump but pause. Look at the Laudermilk “investigation of the investigation” and you will be shocked.

Shocked? Yes, shocked. Liz Cheney lied, appears to have coerced witnesses, wonder of wonders looks to have tried feathering her own political bed; like father like daughter.

Trump, it turns out, authorized the National Guard days earlier to protect the Capitol, but Pelosi ignored his idea or thought possible chaos might help them, so he declined. Pelosi’s daughter – on tape – proves incontrovertibly Pelosi lied. There is so much more, leading to so much less.

Fifth, let’s bring this whole “fascism” sliming game to an end. Democrats, now led by an admitted liberation theologist – lifetime opportunist, leftist, Marxist, and usurper –call Trump a fascist. They must stop. It is dangerous.

The concern is, in all honesty, that these Democrats know they are being reckless, encouraging an assassination, and seem not to care. Having once talked about the violent 1960s with my former boss, Colin Powell, he warned: What we see now pales; three assassinations rocked America.

So, Democrats: Please sit up, grow up, and think. This is not a game, not about power, no matter what you think. Trump is no fascist.. Pushing the idea encourages political violence. No one should want an assassination. The rhetoric is over the top. It only takes one crazy, so stop it.

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC. Robert Charles has also just released an uplifting new book, “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024).