Later developments

In the second decade of the 21st century, right-wing populist and neofascist parties and movements in western Europe enjoyed a surge of popularity, fueled in part by a large influx of Muslim immigrants following the Arab Spring revolts in 2010–11 and, in some countries, by continued resentment of the European Union (EU). Although Muslims in Europe nowhere became a majority of voters, they increased their numbers substantially. In France the FN, now led by Le Pen’s daughter Marine Le Pen, advanced for only the second time to the second round of that country’s presidential elections in 2017 (she was defeated by the centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron). In Germany in 2017, the far-right party Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland; AfD), which had adopted an overtly anti-Islamic platform, won nearly 13 percent of the presidential vote in national elections, and by the following year it was the second most popular political party in Germany, after the Christian Democrats.

At about the same time, a wave of right-wing populism in the United States led, in 2016, to the unexpected electoral victory of Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump. During his campaign Trump had encouraged hostility toward Muslim and Mexican immigrants. He promised to suspend immigration from Muslim-majority countries because of the presumed threat of terrorism; to build a wall along the country’s southern border to prevent illegal immigration from Mexico; and to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country, the great majority of whom had come from Latin America. The Trump administration later became notorious around the world for its policy of separating immigrant children from their parents in cases of families illegally crossing the southern border together. Among Trump’s supporters were members of a reinvigorated militia movement, including border vigilante groups; white supremacists, including members of the Ku Klux Klan; and neo-Nazis—none of whom he disavowed. Indeed, Trump’s far-right and racist supporters became more outspoken as his campaign gained momentum and especially after his electoral victory in November, believing with some justification that their ideas had finally gained a place within mainstream political discourse. In the immediate aftermath of Trump’s election and during the four years of his presidency (2017–21), reported hate crimes directed at minorities—including Hispanics, Muslims, and Jews—increased significantly.

Following the end of World War II, scholars of fascism had adopted various terms to describe certain contemporary political parties and leaders who were not clearly fascist or neofascist but who displayed some characteristics of historical fascist movements and regimes. Among the labels that were applied were “quasifascist,” “protofascist,” “semifascist,” and “borderline fascist.” Such scholars generally agreed that Trump himself was not a fascist or neofascist. Yet he was arguably a borderline fascist, insofar as his behaviour and attitudes, both as a candidate and as president, resembled in some respects those of historical fascist leaders. Such similarities included contempt for democratic values and the rule of law, demagoguery, appeals to racism, incitements to mob violence—notably including Trump’s incitement of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 (see Donald Trump: Presidential election of 2020: Aftermath)—attacks on the legitimacy of the press and of established institutions of government, and the exploitation of scapegoats. Other national leaders in the first three decades of the 21st century whose authoritarian and nationalistic approach had some features in common with fascism included Alexander Lukashenko, who became president of Belarus in 1994; Viktor Orbán, who served as prime minister of Hungary from 1998 to 2002 and again from 2010; Vladimir Putin, who first came to power in Russia in 1999; and Jair Bolsonaro, who became president of Brazil in 2018.